


Children and Soldiers (Weiss Arc)

by Somerandomguy



Series: Children and Soldiers [2]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Angst, Contains OC, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Implied Relationships, Multi, tragic backstory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-21
Updated: 2014-10-30
Packaged: 2018-02-19 02:57:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 50,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2371943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Somerandomguy/pseuds/Somerandomguy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Weiss Schnee has her own problems, and the most pressing so far is the SDC's concert in which she is main event. However, there are those in the shadows who want to take her life. <br/>Sapphire Fall once had a partner - a man called Mercury Black who betrayed him and left him to die. When that person tells him to choose between fighting him and saving Weiss, on a stage where only one option can be chosen, what will he choose?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prelude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 2, Weiss's arc begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 1 of Weiss's Arc, although it's actually Chapter 14. With one arc over, I decided to put a breather of sorts before we begin the next arc proper. Though, it can be said that this is the start of the next arc as well, depending on how you see it.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy:

"So it appears that the matter involving Miss Belladonna is settled."

Sapphire could not recall the last time he had seen Ozpin look so smug. It made him want to punch something.

"Yes, sir," he replied curtly; he used the tone of a student instead of a soldier's. "I won't be going for her head if that's why you wanted to know."

Ozpin nodded. He glanced towards his left, where Glynda Goodwitch stood with her arms folded across her chest. She scowled.

"Are you still hung up on getting revenge?" he asked.

"I can't say for sure about Taurus," Sapphire admitted. "But as for Mercury… I can't say I still want to kill him."

Hesitation. Uncertainty. The two elements that had never once been a part of his life now lurked behind his words and tone. Ozpin, however, did not appear to notice.

"I see," he replied, seemingly satisfied with that answer for now. "You may leave."

"Why didn't you ask him about the surgery?" Glynda asked as the door closed behind him.

"The time isn't right yet," Ozpin answered. "He won't agree."

"Another one of your 'trust the gut instinct' moments?" Glynda enquired, sighing as she massaged her aching temple.

"Just simple observation, Glynda," Ozpin replied. "I'm sure you noticed as well."

Glynda merely looked away, refusing to reply and admit that he was right.

-

Sapphire walked down the empty corridor slowly, his eyes directed at the floor.

He did not want to kill Mercury. The implications of those words hung stagnant in his head, haunting him persistently. Had it been because of the battle with Blake? Or had he simply become soft?

He constantly reminded himself that he was a mercenary. His hands were smeared with blood. His soul had sunken into sins that could not be forgiven with the lives he had robbed. He had sworn to kill Mercury, but now he could not even muster enough resolve to perform the heinous acts which he should have gotten used to. He had to, but he did not want to.

And yet, he could not bring himself to mind that much somehow.

_You're not a monster._

He clenched his fists. Holding on tightly to those words, the former mercenary kept walking.

-

He stood outside the room, eavesdropping on the conversation beyond the door.

"But why can't Sapphire join?" Ruby was saying.

"Because he's not supposed to fight," Blake replied. "If we have to fight our way out, he may worsen his condition."

"Agreed," Weiss spoke up. "He'll only hinder the operation."

"But y'know," Yang said, her voice clearly suggesting that she was going to side with her little sister. "Sneaking into a White Fang gathering will be dangerous; it'd be better to have more people, right?"

"Yeah, that's right!" Ruby exclaimed. He wondered if they knew he was outside and were waiting for him to come in. "He's part of the team now, so we shouldn't be keeping this a secret from him!"

"I agree wholeheartedly," Sapphire said, finally stepping into the room, causing the four girls to turn and stare at him while seating around the small folding table in the center of the room. "Rose can't keep secrets after all."

"Were you eavesdropping?!" Weiss asked indignantly. "You have no manners!"

"I do," Sapphire protested. "I just choose to ignore them sometimes. Or most times. Whatever. What's this sneaking into the White Fang thing about?"

Weiss and Blake sighed.

"We've actually been at it for a while before you transferred," Yang explained. "We're currently tracking Roman Torchwick's movements and trying to stop whatever he's doing."

"Oh, him," Sapphire said. "He's hired us on a couple of occasions before."

As though making up for its recent absence, the stop-and-stare-at-Sapphire-while-speechless moment returned. Picking up on the disbelief in their eyes, Sapphire cleared his throat.

"That was a long time ago," he justified. "I was a merc and we mobilized when paid. It was usually stealing Dust or creating diversions, that's all."

"Do you know how to find him?" Blake asked hopefully.

"No," Sapphire replied heavily. "The higher ups usually keep the clients' information quiet. I only knew that Torchwick hired us when I spied on the transaction after the mission."

"So that's a dead end," Ruby groaned, lying down on the carpet. "That stinks…"

"Back to your conversation earlier," Sapphire said. "What gathering were you planning to infiltrate?"

"We managed to discover that there's an address to Faunus who were interested in joining the White Fang," Blake replied. "We were thinking of sneaking into it and figure out what they planned to do from there. It's only three days away, so-"

"Wait, you guys have been doing this way before I came here?" Sapphire cut across her, finally catching on. "By yourselves?"

"Yeah," all four members of Team RWBY said at the same time.

"Don't say it," Blake said immediately before Sapphire even opened his mouth again. "We know what we're doing."

"Fine," Sapphire agreed begrudgingly. "But I want in."

"Well, it's not as if we have much of a choice, right?" Weiss asked exasperatedly. "You'd tag along even if we said no, right?"

"Spot-on, snowflake," Sapphire praised, receiving a glare from her. "Belladonna, you-"

"Blake."

"What?" Sapphire asked, flummoxed.

"Call me 'Blake'," Blake replied. "It's easier that way. Besides, everyone calls me that."

"Oh! Oh!" Ruby, suddenly full of energy, sat upright. "Call me Ruby! My surname's good too, but I like it when people call me by my name!"

"You can't go wrong with 'Yang' for me!" Yang chipped in cheerfully, winking playfully with a wide grin on her face.

"I suppose you can call me Weiss," Weiss said, somewhat reluctantly. "I get reminded of my background without people calling me by my surname, thank you very much."

 _Winter's sister, indeed,_ Sapphire mused in his head.

"In any case," he went on. "You said that there're three days left, right?"

"Yeah," Blake nodded. "We were thinking of how we could all go in without attracting too much attention; I'm fine so long as Torchwick doesn't see me, but everyone else here is a human."

"Leave that to me," Sapphire said. "I'll make some calls and have the stuff ready by tomorrow. It'll allow us to pass off as Faunus for a simple gathering. Give me a day and I'll fill you guys in."

The four girls looked at each other, considering his proposal. Ruby did not seem to mind, and Yang actually seemed quite excited about the whole idea.

"Alright," Blake agreed. "Show us what you can do then."

"Great!" Yang exclaimed, clapping her hands together. "Now that that's settled, let's enjoy the rest of the weekend!"

When he saw her reach for her pillow, Sapphire immediately dived out of the room.

-

"A meeting?"

Mercury did not bother masking his displeasure at being told to attend something so boring. Nonetheless, he did not dare say 'no' right to Cinder's face.

"Roman's putting in some effort to regain the trust of the little animals he lost the last time," Cinder explained. "After losing even when using that shiny new toy of his, the White Fang found it harder to trust him. He seems to be confident he has something that would change their minds this time."

"So what'd you want me to do about it?" Mercury asked, not seeing her point.

"Tell me what it is," Cinder replied simply. "Go see what he has to offer them, and report back to me."

"He didn't tell you?" Emerald asked, seated in a chair beside Cinder's bed.

"He's been less than cooperative since his little run-in with the girls," Cinder said. "I want you to see just what is it that makes him so confident."

"You mean more confident than usual?" Mercury asked. Cinder smiled faintly.

"Mercury," she said. "Don't talk so much."

-

"So, man," Jaune said, smiling as he put an arm around Sapphire. "I heard you lost to Blake in a fight."

"Who told you-" Sapphire began, but he saw Ruby fumbling with her glass of milk. He sighed. "Yes, it's true."

"Hey, welcome to the club, buddy!" Jaune cheered. "We're all part of the losing-to-women brotherhood now."

Sapphire smirked. It was not an entirely pleasant smirk, and Blake could swear she saw a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"That so?" he asked. "Well if we're part of the same brotherhood, then I'm sure you wouldn't mind a little sparring match, right?"

"E-eh, um, I'm a pacifist," Jaune replied sheepishly.

"Tell you what," Sapphire said, raising his voice so that the rest of Team JNPR could hear. "If you win, I'll help you keep that embarrassing secret of Nikos's which you told me the other day."

Pyrrha, elite huntress in training who beat Team CRDL by herself, spat out her orange juice violently. Ren and Nora managed to dive out of the way in the nick of time and managed to avoid the incoming geyser, while Jaune simply looked confused. He flinched when a strong hand clamped down on his shoulder.

"Jaune," Pyrrha said, a brilliant smile blossoming across her face. "Win at all costs, okay?"

"Eh?" Jaune asked goofily. He was getting some very bad vibes from his girlfriend right now. "U-um, Pyrrha? W-why do you have such a scary aura around you even though you're smiling?"

"But you know, Jaune," Pyrrha went on, ignoring his words. "I'd really like to know what you told your dear brother back there. You'd tell me, wouldn't you?"

"Er-um," Jaune managed. "I-I didn't say – that is to say, I'm not trying to bluff my way out – b-but I didn't say any- Pyrrha? W-why do you have your spear out? What- Ouch!"

"Do excuse us for a bit," Pyrrha said, that dazzling smile still on her face as she dragged Jaune out of the cafeteria by the collar of his school uniform. The blonde was struggling helplessly as he was led out the door and disappeared from view.

"That went well," Sapphire commented casually, turning back to his cereal.

"You have no soul," Blake sighed, before gasping as she realized what she had said; she knew Sapphire was sensitive. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

"Doesn't matter," Sapphire said, waving away her apologies. "Don't worry about it."

"So Sapphy," Nora leaned across the table. "Did Jaune actually tell you anything?"

"Nope," Sapphire answered immediately. "But I thought we could use a little entertainment to kick start the day."

Ren put his hands together in a prayer.

"May his soul rest in peace," he muttered.

"Pieces, maybe," Sapphire said, listening to the shrieking of a girl in the distance.

-

Seated around the table, Sapphire and Team RWBY wore deadly serious expressions as they pondered endlessly and tirelessly.

"So we go with the blue?" Sapphire asked, breaking the tense silence. "Are you sure?"

"It brings out the color of his eyes," Ruby replied.

"But he was proud of the fact that he was a natural blonde," Yang pointed out, stroking her own hair. "I mean, I can relate."

"They should be red," Blake said. "They'll remind him of Pyrrha."

"What'd you think, Weiss?" Ruby asked.

"Huh?" Weiss jumped at being called, looking around in confusion. "W-what?"

"We're discussing what flowers Arc would like on his grave," Sapphire replied seriously.

Before Weiss could reply, there was a knock on the door. Sapphire stood up and opened it, but jumped back and got into a fighting stance immediately after seeing who it was.

"Battle positions!" he yelled. He was somewhat getting used to the hyper vibe of this room. "Whatever you do, don't let it bite you!"

"I'm not a zombie!" Jaune protested.

"It lives!" Yang shouted from behind the table. "Get behind me, sis!"

"And I'm not Fran-" Jaune began, before remembering what he came here for. "Oh wait. I'm here for Weiss, not to mess around!"

"Double-crossing's a crime," Sapphire pointed out. "At least to your partner."

"I'm not double-crossing!" Jaune protested, easily pulled into Sapphire's pace.

"Is polygamy considered cheating?" Sapphire asked the room at large.

"My heart belongs only to Pyrrha!" Jaune shouted, before a deep hue of red crept up his neck and over his forehead. Steam subsequently poured out of his ears.

"What did you want with me, Jaune?" Weiss asked, her expression slightly dazed as she walked towards the door.

"He wants you," Sapphire offered.

"No! The headmaster's looking for you," Jaune finally said the words he wanted to say after taking Sapphire's bait again.

"Right," Weiss replied. "Thanks."

Without another word, Weiss left the room. An uncomfortable silence remained, prompting Jaune to look even more confused.

"What's with her?" he asked.

"She's been preoccupied with something lately," Yang replied. "We don't know what, and she wouldn't tell us anything either. We thought we'd cheer her up with some messing around, but that didn't work out so well."

"I see," Jaune muttered. "Wait; does that mean I was just used for comic relief?"

"You didn't realize that?" all four people in the room asked at the same time.

Jaune groaned in defeat.

-

"How sure are you about this plan?"

"Do you even need to ask?" Roman snapped. The lack of intelligence that came with a Faunus brain was frustrating to accept sometimes. He kept that comment to himself, though; they may be stupid, but they outnumbered him.

"I can see the benefits to our cause," the White Fang lieutenant said. "But is this really feasible?"

"Of course it is," Roman insisted. "Unless you're telling me your men are so incompetent they can't pull off something like this?"

"Watch your mouth, human," the lieutenant snarled. "Do not ever mock the White Fang. We are more than capable of pulling off something this simple."

"Then it's settled," Roman concluded. "With this, your army will grow when they find out that you really have what it takes to bare your fangs at the enemy."

 _And give me more pawns to manipulate,_ he thought with a wicked smile.

"Very well," the lieutenant said slowly. "We'll follow your idea and assassinate Weiss Schnee."


	2. A simple Thank You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where a part of Sapphire's past comes back to him.

She told herself not to be jealous. She reminded herself that others should be looking at her with those eyes, not the other way around. But she always ended up envying them, because they all possessed something she did not.

Being a Schnee meant to be born into comfort, luxuries and greatness. It meant being born into success, nothing but success, and an inevitable fate to become a force to be reckoned with. It was a destiny that could not be avoided, and it was something mere commoners could not understand.

And yet, it was these commonplace individuals whom she admired and envied.

She was not jealous of their mundane lives. She did not covet living lavishly, but she harbored no particular longing for an ordinary, everyday life. She was not envious of their carefree smiles, brought upon by the ignorance towards the demands of an elite's world.

She was jealous of their superiority.

She was jealous of her, and her vastly superior combat abilities. The red-haired Huntress in training possessed a gift, a talent for battle, and her skills were far beyond her own. When she saw her for the first time at Beacon, she did not restrain herself and talked to her. She might have made some progress, maybe even managed to get some tips, if not for a certain blonde getting in the way.

Then she was jealous of him. She was jealous of that annoying blonde who was nothing more than a pain in the neck. She was jealous not of his close relationship with the Huntress she admired and envied in equal measure, but of the fact that he had found love. She was envious that he, of all people, had found love before she could; her own love interest hardly seemed to be that interested in her at all.

Then she was jealous of her. When they first met in front of the school, the dolt with silver eyes and black hair tinged with red was just a klutz. She had thought of this young girl as nothing more than an idiot at first – an observation backed up by the explosion that followed which left a crater where they stood. The hopeless case was truly an idiot, even though she had the good fashion sense to wear a combat skirt as well. She thought that for once, the world was right; the dolt in front of her was proof that the elites and the common folk stood on different levels.

But the dolt was so much more. The blundering buffoon who hardly knew how to handle Dust had not only become her team leader, but she also found out later that her leader's skills were so extraordinary that they had let her attend Beacon two years early. The red-cloaked insufferable moron was so much more than she – the supposed elite – was.

Then he came along. She was no longer even surprised when she discovered that he was better than her in fighting. Sure, he was a former mercenary, but he was no elite. She was the elite. She was the elite whom everyone could tell at first glance was weaker than he was.

When he fought against her teammate, she felt her jealousy towards her leader increase. Her words, her confidence, her faith in her friends – that blockhead's capacity as a leader was something she could never have. The maturity she felt in those words was no illusion, and neither was the stabbing throb in her chest that followed.

Pyrrha Nikos had her unmatched skills. Jaune Arc had his experience in love. Ruby Rose had a charisma most people would never even notice. Yang Xiao Long had overwhelming confidence in the face of stronger foes. Blake Belladonna had the courage to face her fears. But Weiss Schnee had nothing.

Everyone around her had talents and achievements far beyond her own. She was supposed to be at the top, but instead she was the one groveling in mediocrity. She already had a head start in life, but now she was the one being left behind.

Surrounded by outstanding people, the unexceptional elite stood alone.

-

Weiss took deep breaths, trying to steady her nerves. Her talk with the headmaster had progressed well, and he even agreed to her requests. Granted, they were not outrageous requests, but she had not expected him to agree so easily.

Her sister had done most of the work, signing the papers and going through the proper procedures to let her leave the school outside of curfew as and when she had to. All that was left was to practice. But above all else, she had to keep this a secret from her team. Until it was time, anyway.

Making sure that she did not look nervous or anything besides neutral, confident and elegant, Weiss reached for the doorknob.

She had expected to see them lazing about, maybe with the exception of Blake who would likely be reading a book. Instead, everyone was huddled around a large cardboard box Sapphire was rummaging around in.

"What's that?" Weiss asked, her voice equal parts curiosity and trepidation.

"Oh, you're back, Weiss!" Ruby said, turning around. "Welcome back."

Weiss froze. Her eyes were fixated on the top of Ruby's head. Or at least what was on it.

"Ruby," she said slowly. "What are you wearing?"

"Oh, this?" Ruby fiddled with the cat ears on her head as they twitched. "It's a Faunus disguise!"

"Are you kidding?" Weiss asked incredulously. "There's no way that would- wait; did it just move?"

"It's not some plastic prop," Sapphire explained. "The ears are set to twitch every now and then at random intervals. They feel real, too; try touching them and then go touch-"

"No," Blake said resolutely. "I've felt them and they're fine."

"Is that really going to be enough to fool a Faunus?" Weiss asked as Yang stuck a pair of bunny ears on her head and did a pirouette.

"Of course not," Sapphire replied. "That's why I brought this as well."

He held up a spray can. Blake immediately took a step away from it.

"This," Sapphire declared, shaking the can. "Is a compound one of our nerds cooked up. It gives off a scent humans can't pick up easily, but the more sensitive Faunus can. It masks your own human smell and covers it with one that's similar to a Faunus."

"How did you make that?" Blake asked apprehensively.

"Don't worry; we didn't use blood or anything," Sapphire assured her. "It's composed largely of Dust and the target Faunus's hair. We usually cut the hair off our prisoners; if they died, it'd be weird to wander around pretending to be them with their scent right?"

"Hey," Yang said, her eyes widening. "Does that mean if you use Blake's hair we can all smell like Blake?"

"Only to another Faunus, but yeah," Sapphire replied. "You'd have to disguise yourself as a cat Faunus for that, though."

"Great idea!" Ruby yelled. "We can all be cats like Blake! I like Blake's scent!"

"Wouldn't it be a problem if everyone smells the same?" Blake asked hastily, backing away.

"It's not a problem," Sapphire replied, evidently trying to hold in his smirk. "It'll make them smell similar, but not exactly the same, so as long as your species are similar most Faunus won't look twice at you."

"I-I still don't think it's such a good idea," Blake protested.

"You don't want to, Blake?" Ruby asked with a pleading expression, teary-eyed as she leaned towards the black-haired girl so her face occupied the latter's field of vision.

"U-um, I…" Blake faltered, unable to look at anything but the innocent girl whom she had come to develop a soft spot for since they enrolled in Beacon. And the puppy-dog eyes.

Sensing an opportunity, Yang swapped the fake cat ears on Ruby's head with puppy ears at lightning speed. Blake glared at the blonde angrily, but was immediately distracted when Ruby whined and drew closer, still waiting for her reply.

"You don't want to?" Ruby asked again. Sapphire was already holding a pair of scissors behind her, wearing a smug grin that he tried unsuccessfully to hide.

"Ugh…" Blake croaked, sounding like she was about to cry but was actually just conflicted. Ultimately unable to resist, she drooped her head and let her shoulders fall in defeat with a weak groan. "Fine…"

"Yay!" the two sisters cheered, exchanging double handed high fives. Blake settled for sulking in a corner.

"What about you, princess?" Sapphire asked, tilting her head at Weiss, who was foraging through the contents of the box herself.

"I'm so not doing this," She said resolutely.

"But why, Weiss?" Ruby asked, but Weiss held up one hand to stop her.

"Don't you dare use that tactic on me, Ruby Rose!" she commanded, shutting her eyes. "I am NOT going to fall for it!"

"You know you can't resist, Weiss~" Yang teased wickedly, slowly pushing Ruby towards the white-haired heiress.

"No! No!" Weiss pleaded. "I-I'm not wearing such stupid things even if it kills me!"

"That… kinda hurt, Weiss," Blake said, although she had an understanding look on her face.

"T-That wasn't what I meant!" Weiss said immediately, opening her eyes out of surprise; she had forgotten Blake was a Faunus. "I-I just wanted to know if … Um… If there were more realistic-looking ones."

"Okay, lemme see," Sapphire muttered, reaching into the box. "I've got dog ears, bear ears, um… is this a rat tooth? Rabbit ears, lion mane, bull horns…"

"None of those sound very appealing," Weiss pointed out.

"Well, there's this," Sapphire offered, pulling out what looked like a brown rope. "I think the rat one is broken, but there's this monkey tail-"

"Give me the cat ears." Weiss demanded instantly.

"Wha-" Sapphire began.

"NOW," she emphasized.

-

When Velvet Scarlatina entered the room, she was confused and surprised, although she could honestly not tell which weighed more. She did not know what to expect when she came here as requested, but she certainly had not expected to see four cat Faunus girls and a human boy who smelled like a bear Faunus. Especially when she was sure that at least the white-haired girl was definitely human.

"That's for coming," Sapphire said, startling her. "Come on in."

"Hey Velvet," Blake greeted pleasantly.

"H-hi, Blake," Velvet replied timidly. "I-I see you're wearing your bow today."

"Oh, this?" Blake touched the bow on her head which covered her cat ears. "Yeah, I felt like it today."

After her battle with Sapphire, Blake often walked around without her bow. It pretty much exposed her identity as a Faunus to the whole school, but she did not mind, except maybe when Yang told Nora about her ears being sensitive and Blake ended up being subjected to plenty of stroking and tickling. She had made herself feel better by vividly reminding Yang of her punishment by Goodwitch for destroying the school building, and enjoying the blonde's petrified expression.

Even though she had nothing to hide anymore, Blake still sometimes wore a bow on her head and over her ears. She did not bother to hide her identity anymore, but occasionally she would be in the mood for wearing a bow like a change of clothing. To her, it was partly a reminder of her past as well as a fashion statement.

"Why are you here?" Blake asked. Velvet fidgeted and stole a couple of glances at Sapphire.

"I called her here to help," Sapphire explained. "Figured it'd be a little easier if we had two girls teach you fellas about how to act natural as a Faunus. There're some small details that matter depending on your Faunus type, right?"

"Yeah, like varying reactions to being touched at the non-human areas," Blake agreed. "But I didn't expect you to ask someone else for help, Sapphire."

"I know when an expert's opinions are needed," Sapphire said dismissively, turning to Velvet. "Do try to help us keep this a secret, okay?"

"Y-yeah," Velvet replied, managing a small nod. "I will."

"I'll leave you guys to it, then," Sapphire concluded, walking out and closing the door behind him.

-

Once outside the door, Sapphire took out his cell phone and swiftly dialed a number. As he waited for the other side to answer, he walked down the corridor and towards the stairs that would take him to the roof.

"Dynes speaking."

"Hello, Pat," Sapphire said. "How's the party prep coming along?"

There was a short moment of silence following that sentence, enough for Sapphire to register a passing Faunus student staring at him strangely. He could guess the reason, too; his thin build was very uncharacteristic of a bear Faunus, whom he must have smelled like to them right now.

"Who is this?" Patrick asked in a low voice. "What have you done with Sapphire?"

"It's me, genius," Sapphire growled.

"Wow," Patrick said in surprise. "You really sound different. What happened?"

"We'll talk about that some other time," Sapphire pushed open the door and stepped into the vermillion hue of the evening sun. The Sunday was ending, but looking over the roof and at the setting sun made one wonder if time had stopped just to preserve that scenery. "I want to know about the party now."

"Preparations are set," Patrick replied. "The desired staff will be at the gate. The other staff will… be a little too drunk to do the shift, I expect. They'll probably wake up with a hangover and no idea what happened."

Sapphire, as a teetotaler, often found it interesting that Patrick like to refer to his Semblance of memory manipulation's effects as being drunk. He considered drinking just to see if he would really forget something, but he could never actually bring himself to swallow liquor.

"Tell me about the guests who'll be attending," Sapphire prompted. Even though he was alone now, his old habit of referring to a mission's details as something completely normal stayed. Back then, it was used to prevent enemies who were listening in from understanding what they were really talking about. Now, it felt more like a strange game.

"Nothing much," Patrick replied. "Expect it to be a wasted trip; apparently there'll only be unveiling of new toys and some announcement."

"Noted," Sapphire replied. "Thanks, Pat."

"Hey, Saph," Patrick said just as Sapphire was about to hang up. "You sound better. That's good."

While Sapphire wondered what he meant by that, Patrick hung up.

"Thank you for the explanation," he grumbled sarcastically.

"U-um…"

Pocketing his phone and keeping his hands in his pockets, Sapphire turned and saw, much to his surprise, Velvet Scarlatina.

"You're done with the lecture?" he asked. "That certainly was quick."

"Y-yes," Velvet replied, looking at the ground nervously. "There wasn't much I could teach them in the end… B-but I had something I wanted to say… t-to you."

"Oh, if it's the bear scent, I-" Sapphire began; had it been so strong that it allowed her to trail him all the way here?

"No!" Velvet denied. "I… wanted to say thank you."

Sapphire said nothing as he raised an eyebrow. Velvet fidgeted uncomfortably for a few moments.

"A few years ago," she said, evidently trying to calm herself down and continue speaking. "You attacked a small village in Vacuo. It was a unique village with humans and Faunus worked together hand in hand."

The sun set fire to the clouds, drenching the boundless sky in the color of blood as it sank into the horizon, blazing a trail to its demise as it announced the approach of the all-enveloped darkness of night. Sapphire felt his blood run cold at those words.

He had killed people that day. Regular humans, innocent Faunus, adults, elderly, children. Now, one of the few survivors was standing before him, reminding him of that fact. Of that day. Of his unforgivable sins.

He thought he recognized her when he saw her back as she walked. He had seen a similar back belonging to a young Rabbit Faunus, also covered by that long swishing hair, as she escaped the massacre he had participated in.

"I did," he replied, his lips dry as he strained to keep a stoic expression. Velvet looked away from him.

"Y-you saved me that day," she went on. "Thanks to you, some of us were able to escape to safety. Because you stopped them back then, we were able to get away with our lives. I just… wanted to thank you personally. T-that's all."

Sapphire could not hide his shock. Did this girl know who she was talking to?

"Thank you," Velvet said, giving him a polite bow and a small smile. "For saving us back then."

With that, she turned and scurried down the stairs. Sapphire watched her go again, his lips simply refusing to move. Falling on his rear as his legs gave way, he brought a palm to his face.

She thanked him. Even though he had been the one who attacked the village, spilling blood everywhere as they burned it to the ground, she was still grateful to him for saving her life. Who would ever thank a killer over a simple good deed?

"You were right, Luke," Sapphire said, letting tears escape his eyes while a bitter smile formed shakily on his lips. "I'm a softy after all."

He was relieved. Even with guilt's ice-cold grip on his chest, he was still relieved to hear those words. Even with a soul tainted by the blood of his victims, he still embraced the tiniest sliver of salvation from her gratitude.

Managing a shaky laugh, Sapphire basked in the afterglow of the gentle sunset, as it embraced the world with its limitless warmth.

The darkness will come, and will continue to exist, but for now, there was a light out there somewhere.


	3. Curtains Rise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The curtains rise on the next challenge they face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 3 (Or 16 overall) is here, and I thought I'd add a small scene to help address a review about the White Fang. It's not a spoiler or anything, but more of foreshadowing in case you were curious if the White Fang will play a bigger part in the story than this one plan.
> 
> If you have anything you'd like to clarify about this story, please do review! I'll address them either with a reply, an extra scene in future chapters, or both where applicable.
> 
> Now, without further ado, here's chapter 16:

"What is that supposed to mean?!"

Weiss, lost in her indignation, did not even care about the students around her whom she had startled with that outburst. It was a stroke of luck that Ruby was not around, because that dolt would definitely go into worrywart mode.

"Please calm down, Miss Schnee," the lady on the other end of the call said desperately. "The hall has already been booked, and-"

"So I don't get a say in this?!" Weiss snapped. "I only go and do whatever I'm told to do?! You want me to just go and perform like that?!"

"Miss Schnee-"

But Weiss had already hung up. She stormed through the school grounds, up the stairs, across the corridors, and trudged violently into Team RWBY's room. It was empty, which was both convenient as well as expected.

After the fiasco yesterday, Blake and Sapphire were sent to the infirmary. Blake only stayed for one night due to lack of significant physical damage, but she was still in shock. After she came back from classes, she just dropped her books and left. Ruby followed after her, and after Weiss left to pick up the call from earlier, Yang must have wandered off somewhere. That left Weiss alone with no one to talk to, and in a _really_ bad mood.

Refraining from taking out her anger on the countless possible targets in the room (which also included that wretched phone of hers as well as that blasted whistle Ruby had on her desk), Weiss collapsed onto her bed with a frustrated groan.

In three weeks' time, she was to perform in a large concert hall in Vale. The purpose was, without doubt, to promote the Schnee Corporation's image. Weiss had much pride and confidence in her singing, but she hated it being used for something like this.

Even so, no matter how much she did not want to, she would still do it in the end. She was not stupid enough to let her own childish whims cloud her logic and prevent her from understanding what must be done. Winter knew that as well.

 _Guess I better rehearse,_ she resigned herself to that inevitable fate in her head.

-

"So, Cinder," Mercury said as he relaxed on his bed. "What do you plan to do after you know Roman's plan?"

"Mercury," Emerald cut him a sharp look. "Shut up."

"It's okay," Cinder said, looking out the window. "No one's listening in on this."

"So… what're you gonna do?" Mercury asked again.

"If it works, nothing," Cinder replied. "The White Fang's success will draw in more recruits and it'll just be more soldiers for us. What I'm concerned with is what happens when it fails."

"So you're going to see if the plan's hopeful or not, then formulate a backup plan?" Mercury asked. "You should just go with the backup right now then; you really think Roman can pull anything off properly?"

"All in good time, Mercury," Cinder said patiently. "We have to know the details of the plan so we don't deviate from the objective. We want Roman to trust us. He's not that incompetent; I chose him, after all."

"What's it matter if it's just out to show off the White Fang?" Mercury asked. "Just do something that'll make 'em seem powerful then you've got your new recruits."

"Why don't you try thinking instead of talking sometimes, Mercury?" Emerald asked exasperatedly. "If we know how Roman plans to go about doing it, and if we succeed where he fails, it also shows off how superior we are."

"It's important to know who's in charge," Cinder added, smiling as she looked at a student walk across the school grounds. It was a student whose name she did not know, but was also one of the only two children who had stood against her in battle here at Beacon so far. Cinder figured he was about her age, but when she saw him with Ruby Rose's team, that thought vanished without a trace. "When Roman fails, we'll succeed and make him truly see just who has the upper hand in this cooperation. Then, both he and the White Fang will obediently do whatever we tell them to do. Well, more obediently than they are now, anyway," she added with a chuckle.

If Sapphire was still alive, would he look like that?

Feeling her weakness return, Cinder pushed those surfacing emotions back into the depths of her heart. Sapphire was dead, and she would exact revenge on the world that took him away.

"We'll make the world burn," she promised.

-

Weiss held her breath as they approached their destination. It looked like a regular warehouse – one of the many that no one would pay any attention to, except for maybe the hole in one of the walls. Upon closer inspection, however, the hole was covered by a large pane of smoked glass that made it look like nothing was inside. It would not be surprising if the glass was soundproofed as well.

The ears on her head twitched. Weiss hated the fact that she could feel it every time the fake ears moved, and wanted more than anything to take them off along with the mask on her face. But she persevered.

She was not pleased with how she had to wear a wig, either. While she agreed that her snow white hair was an attention grabber to most people (Faunus especially, considering her company's history with the White Fang), having to tie it into a tight bun to fit it under a wig was extremely annoying. Even though Yang had to wear one as well, at least the blonde's wig had long hair reaching her waist; Weiss's simply stopped somewhere at the shoulder.

This must have been the place Blake and Sun infiltrated the previous time. They did not change a location this time, which was a highly risky move but also a good idea; after all, no one would suspect it being used again after they had already been found there once.

"Say, is Sun coming?" Ruby asked out of the blue.

"No," Blake replied. "There's no need for him to put his life in danger for this."

"Aww, Blake is so cute when she's thinking of her boyfriend," Yang teased.

"It's- it's not like that at all!" Blake denied vehemently. "W-we're just friends; that's all!"

"But didn't you two go on a romantic movie date together~?" Yang asked, her trademark grin across her face. "You almost held hands, too!"

"Wh-wh-" Blake spluttered. "You foll-"

"Hush," Sapphire said as they reached the entrance.

The guard stationed there did not move aside to let them pass, and as they stood there awkwardly he gave them each a good long look before moving on to the next. Weiss could almost hear her heart hammering against her ribcage.

"You guys…" the guard said. "Look absolutely ridiculous."

Their cover was blown. It had been a terrible idea after all. Weiss saw Ruby's hand slip into her cloak, no doubt reaching for Crescent Rose. Weiss too readied her hand to release Myrtenaster at a moment's notice, until Sapphire stopped them with a wave of his hand, smiling despite the situation.

"It was Schnee's idea," he said, cocking his head in Weiss's direction.

"Hey!" Weiss exclaimed despite herself, before hastily slapping both hands across her mouth.

"Especially you," the guard went on, gesturing at Sapphire's bare chest exposed through his unbuttoned vest.

"I was told males should be more… exposed," Sapphire replied. "I got the tip from a certain monkey Faunus at school. Anyway, just let us in already."

"Fine," the guard stepped aside. "Ladies, I leave you to your host."

"What was that about?" Yang asked as they passed.

"He's an acquaintance," Sapphire answered. "It makes sneaking in and out much easier for us."

"Wow," Ruby gasped. She was not referring to Sapphire's statement, but rather at the interior of the warehouse.

What awaited them in the large space beyond the entrance was a teeming mass of masked Faunus, filling up the warehouse with ease. Blake and Sapphire did not look particularly affected, but the other three girls had never seen such a large gathering of Faunus in their lives before.

"Seven," Sapphire muttered, surveying the space. "No, eight. There're eight locations rigged to help our escape. Not bad, Pat."

Then, he froze. It was only a passing glance across the stage where a White Fang lieutenant and Roman Torchwick were talking, but Sapphire managed to spot a single silhouette – a silhouette belonging to someone he would never forget.

"I'll go scout the area," he said hurriedly, rushing off without waiting for a reply. "You guys stay here."

He would never forget. He could not forget. That was definitely the silhouette of Mercury Black.

-

Mercury stretched lazily as he stepped into the night air, feeling the gentle breeze lightly caress his skin. It would have been a better picture if the moon had been visible though, but unfortunately the mischievous clouds got in the way.

He was starting to get bored. It had not even been five minutes since he was here, but Mercury was already starting to feel exhausted. He considered calling Emerald just to annoy her for a bit, but he was too lazy to fish out his phone, too.

A 'click' sound came from somewhere behind him, almost entirely silent. Reacting instinctively, Mercury twisted his body to the side, narrowly avoiding some sort of projectile as it grazed the side of his arm.

"Looks like you've still got it."

His senses on full alert, Mercury stared at his opponent as he emerged from the shadows of the warehouse behind him. He did not take being sneaked up on well, but the assailant's voice and face caused him to forget that hostility for a moment. Only for it to be replaced by a swelling hatred.

"Looks like you still recognize me," Sapphire taunted, smirking as he rested his hands by his side; Daybreak and Duskfall were already in their crossbow forms. His mask lay forgotten behind him. "How long has it been, Mercury?"

"Way too long, Saph," Mercury replied with a good-natured grin, even though it did nothing to hide his killing intent. "Your fashion sense has changed, I see. But to think you survived... How'd you do it?"

"I ate plenty of vegetables," Sapphire shrugged.

"So now you're here to join the White Fang?" Mercury asked. "Can't stop licking someone's shoes, huh? You still need someone to tell you what to do, like some errand boy?"

"Says the guy who takes orders from scum," Sapphire retorted.

"You honestly think I take orders from that idiot Torchwick?" Mercury asked, slowly moving one foot behind the other. "Please. I'd sooner jump in front of a moving train."

"That could be arranged," Sapphire offered, mirroring Mercury's movements. "But even if Torchwick's not your boss, it doesn't change the fact you're still serving some third-rate scum."

"You know, you never made a good picture," Mercury said, bending his knees a little as he reached for something behind him. "You're too soft, Saph."

A searing pain burned across Mercury's cheek, causing him to duck instantly. A line of scarlet appeared under his left eye, as a momentary flash cut across where his face had been instants before.

"Really?" Sapphire asked, letting go of the wire attached to his first arrow. "Let's test that theory."

"Sure," Mercury said, standing back up. "But not now; this place lacks a good ambiance befitting a proper fight."

"How romantic," Sapphire snarled. "Alas, I don't need good ambiance to make dismembering you any more enjoyable."

Mercury knew that Sapphire wanted to fight right then and there. He wanted to as well, more than anything, but he was on a mission. Cinder's orders were absolute, and they took precedence over anything else. Even this.

"Two weeks from now," he said. His head was hurting a little now for some reason. "At that Schnee woman's performance, we'll duke it out. I'll let you two die a lover's death then. It's gentlemanly of me, right?"

"What performance?" Sapphire asked. Mercury was acting odd; was he under some drug or something?

"Oh, you didn't know?" Mercury panted, trying to control his swaying. "Well, it hasn't been announced, after all. There'll be a performance by Weiss Schnee two weeks from now at the concert hall northeast of Beacon. The plan is to assassinate her there."

He knew that Sapphire had no more allies. He had seen to it that the last dregs of their team vanished in the explosion or from his bullets. Sapphire was alone, but he was also the unknown factor in this plan with his combat prowess. If he had infiltrated this place, he would eventually find out about the plan. With his ability, he could easily put a stop to the assassination. Mercury had to stop that at all costs.

"So at that time, you can choose," Mercury declared. "You can come after me, and let her die, or run around trying to find a means to save her and let me escape. You won't find me outside of today and on the day of the performance, so you'll have no chance to kill me after that. What'll it be?"

"What makes you think I won't kill you right here?" Sapphire asked. "What makes you think I wouldn't go to the authorities with this information, either?"

"Do you really think you can kill me right now?" Mercury fired back, chuckling. The headache had gone away the moment he told himself the mission took priority and abandoned the idea of fighting Sapphire. "You're right in the middle of enemy territory by yourself. You'd have a much better chance at the performance, even though you'd still end up dead."

"What about-" Sapphire began. He could go to Ozpin and-

"You can't trust anyone anymore," Mercury pointed out. "Not after I left that pathetic excuse of a team. Besides, are you really going to risk someone else's life?"

Sapphire froze. Mercury was right; even if he knew of the plan, he could not bear to ask someone else to help him; anyone involved with him would eventually die because of his weakness. He had to do it alone, but he could not choose between killing Mercury and saving Weiss.

He could fight right now, but with his sneak attack failed he had little chances of keeping it discreet. If he blew his cover here, the girls still in the warehouse would be in danger as well. He had only one choice: to let Mercury escape now and fight him two weeks later. But to let Weiss die to accomplish that goal?

He considered getting help, but that would not work; the fact that they had information on the performance before the announcement meant that there was a spy in there somewhere. If they cancelled the event, the White Fang would change their plans and he would have no idea what to do then, not to mention Mercury would escape as well; he was at a disadvantage in terms of information.

He could only believe Mercury's words, and beat them at their own game when the time came.

"I take it you understand what must be done," Mercury said, backing away. "Enjoy your last two weeks, Saph; I'm not as soft as _he_ is."

With that, Mercury disappeared around a corner. Sapphire stood his ground for a few moments, feeling his blood boil at his own incompetence.

He had let Mercury escape. Again.

"Sapphire?"

Sending his weapons back into their block form, Sapphire turned around and saw Blake approaching without her mask. She was holding on to his with her free hand.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

He could have just said it then. He could have just asked her for help. She would definitely have agreed to help him put an end to things. But he did not.

He told himself that it was because she was a former member of the White Fang. He told himself it was because she could not be trusted, but even he did not believe those blatant lies.

"It's nothing," he said, taking the mask from her. "What did they say?"

"Nothing," Blake replied. "Apparently something urgent happened and they just dismissed everyone. It was a waste of time."

Sapphire nodded. Mercury was quick to act as usual.

"I see," he said. "Let's go back then."

"Sapphire?" Blake asked again, as Sapphire put on the mask and returned to the warehouse. "Are you sure everything's alright?"

Even though she could not see his expression, Blake was sure she saw something flash by in his eyes hidden behind the mask. Something resembling sorrow, or perhaps hurt.

"Yeah," Sapphire replied. "I'm fine."

Two weeks. That was the time limit before they would finally bring an end to things. The act had already begun, and the actors were waiting in the wings for their moment on the stage.

He would face Mercury and kill him. He would save Weiss without putting anyone else in danger. That was his obligation as a soldier who had experienced the darkness of the world. That was his duty.

 _Let the curtains rise,_ he thought with conviction.


	4. Hesitation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The mercenaries, and their darkness, are revealed.

He was just some other guy. He was one of those folk you would never notice while passing by on the street. He was not someone anybody would bother looking at twice, simply because he was a typical sort of guy.

He wanted to prove them wrong. He wanted to show whoever believed otherwise that he was special. He wanted to show them that he was a 'chosen one' with the power to change the world.

In the end, he just wanted to be seen. He just wanted to be special.

When his previous leader, Dynes, was forced to retire and a new guy came in, he did not pay him much heed. That kid was a rookie who could not even pull off a simple equipment acquiring mission. He had heard rumors the rookie had deliberately went against orders on an extermination mission before that as well. If there was one thing he had to say, it would be that this idiot should not even be a mercenary, much less his partner.

But when that kid Sapphire was chosen to be a tester for the MACB alongside him, he was forced to look at him, maybe even as an equal. When Morris and Anderson decided to be romantic and die a lovers' death together, he saw Sapphire lose it. In the rampage that followed, he felt Sapphire's rage close up as the red-eyed mercenary performed feats he did not even know the MACB was capable of. For the first time, he saw Sapphire as someone other than a rookie, a burden, or an equal.

He saw him for the talented fighter everyone else saw him as. He saw that Sapphire had far more potential than he had. He saw that Sapphire was a 'chosen one', and he was just another guy.

When Sapphire was selected over him to test the new gear, he knew that the higher ups expected more from the new guy than they did from him. As much as he hated that fact, he could not change it.

So he left. He left that place where he could not shine – the place where he was forced to constantly live in another's shadow. He betrayed them, making sure they all died, except Sapphire who would surely be killed by a vastly superior opponent. Maybe then he would know the frustration of being inferior. He sought another place where he could be recognized for his strength. Where someone would make him feel special.

When Cinder offered him the chance, Mercury agreed. She had seen him as a jewel, a person of value, and one of the 'chosen ones' who could change the world with her.

He believed that if it was for her, he would not mind setting the world aflame.

-

Weiss stifled a yawn as she played around with her breakfast. The lack of sleep because of last night was one thing, but she had been up through the night for many days beforehand. It was tough just trying to keep her eyes open.

"What's wrong, Blake?" Yang asked, tossing a grape into her mouth. "You look kinda out of it."

"No, I'm fine," Blake replied halfheartedly. "I was just thinking about Sapphire for a bit; after yesterday, he's been acting… odd. It's like he went back to being the Sapphire when he… when he still wanted to kill me."

Weiss said nothing. Yang easily noticed Blake's small changes, and Blake noticed Sapphire's. No one would notice Weiss's fatigue or her stress, but that was only to be expected; the commoners can't hide their troubles, and they wore it on their faces. The elites were the ones who had to hide their weaknesses; all they showed were results.

Despite knowing that, Weiss could not help but feel left out.

"Hey Weiss, you okay?"

She jumped. Before she knew it, Ruby Rose had inserted herself into her vision, obscuring Weiss's view of anything else. Those big, silver eyes were lit with worry.

"I- What are you talking about?" Weiss retorted.

"You look tired," Ruby commented, staring into her eyes. Weiss sometimes wondered if she was doing it on purpose. It irked her greatly, but somehow she could not bring herself to hate it that much. "Did you have a nightmare last night?"

"She didn't get to sleep last night, sis," Yang pointed out. "None of us did."

"I'm just worrying about having to waste another day teaching you simple things, Ruby Rose," Weiss replied, putting on her haughty attitude as she flicked Ruby on the forehead with her index finger, pushing her away. She was grateful, but she would rather die than admit it. "I shudder to think of having to tutor you on the basic of basics again."

"I'm not that bad…" Ruby whined, massaging her forehead.

"I'm going to go get some things," Weiss declared, standing up. "I'll join you guys at class later."

Not waiting for a reply, she walked off in a hurry, leaving behind three very confused roommates.

-

Sapphire sat on the ground, lifting a bottle of water over his head. Without caring about his clothes, he tilted the bottle and emptied its contents over his head.

He had been worried that there would not be enough of them around, but the Grimm in the Emerald Forest did not disappoint. He was forced to use his weapons instead of the intended bare-hands only approach after the sixth Beowolf, but he had already realized by then that this training was pointless.

Back in the days of being a mercenary, they were told to hone a lethal 'killing intent'. Rather than being made to lose all emotion and relying entirely on logic and obedience, they were told to make use of their own emotions as well as their enemies'. Many of them succeeded; with even a modicum of negative emotion like fear, hate or sorrow, they could summon a wave of focused killing intent directed at the source, providing the driving force to utterly decimate their foes. Needless to say, it improved their combat abilities significantly.

Sapphire, however, never got the hang of it. Instead, he tried making up for that by remaining callous and following through missions with nothing but cold, hard logic. Sure, it was nowhere as powerful a force as killing intent, but it got the job done. Whenever he could bring himself to actually do it, that is.

When he saw Mercury at the warehouse, he saw clearly that his former partner had not lost it; he could bring out his unclouded killing intent at a moment's notice. In order to take him on as someone who has walked the same path through the shadows, Sapphire had to be able to bring out his own killing intent.

Killing Grimm was nothing. It did absolutely nothing for him, much less bringing out the killer inside him. He had pulled it off so easily when he was nine, and when Tyler and Amelia died. Now, he could barely feel an inkling of it in himself, as though it had never existed.

He did not have the resolve Blake displayed in their fight. He could not turn resolve into a driving force. If he were to battle Mercury right now without the undivided intention to kill him, Sapphire would just be taken out. He needed something – anything – to light that flame.

_You're not a monster._

Those words returned to haunt him. They echoed endlessly, trying to pull him away from the shadows.

_Thank you for saving us back then._

Why was he relieved to hear those words? And why was it he could not easily toss them away?

He did not have time left. He had to kill Mercury, and Adam Taurus after that. He did not have the luxury to wallow in indecision, and he could not continue being weak. He had to do something.

But nothing would come to mind.

-

"Where on Remnant have you been?" Weiss asked impatiently, folding her arms across her chest. "Don't you know you should never keep a lady waiting?"

"I thought ladies always arrived late so they didn't have to wait," Sapphire replied indifferently, closing the door to the dorm room. "It's your fault for being early. Why the sudden meeting, Schnee?"

Weiss glared at him.

"Weiss," he corrected hastily.

"Good. I called you guys here because I have an announcement to make," Weiss said, addressing the team. Ruby looked up from her textbook gratefully, glad that there was an excuse to not read its sleep-inducing words. "I wanted to invite you guys to this event."

She passed around a bunch of flyers, and when one reached Sapphire his eyes widened.

"The Schnee Dust Company will be holding a celebration in commemoration of our latest business venture," Weiss announced proudly. "And you're all cordially invited to it, with VIP seats!"

Sapphire had expected this to an extent. It certainly beat having to sneak past the security if he was invited.

"Here're your invitations," Weiss said, passing them along one by one. "They look blank now, but when you activate the Dust in it with your Aura it'll make the name appear, and then no one else will be able to use it."

 _This oughta be good,_ Sapphire thought, noting the queer expression on Weiss's face as she passed him his. He was not disappointed when he saw the faint light blue words slowly appearing on the card. _I guess she was convinced by the commander._

**This invitation is to certify that the following guest has been formally invited as an honored guest to attend the celebration:**

**JACKASS FALL**

_Glad to see you haven't forgotten me,_ he thought.

"Do you have some sort of history with my sister?" Weiss asked. "She made this strange face when I asked her to invite you."

"She and I were business partners," Sapphire said, telling himself that it was mostly true; he just did not pay for the goods. "Anyway, what's going to happen at the event?"

"Well, there's going to be a concert," Weiss revealed, still looking quite skeptical. "After that, it's more of a ball and a dinner reception."

"And you're performing?" Sapphire guessed.

"How did you-" Weiss began, but recovered quickly from her surprise; she was going to tell them anyway. "Yes. I'll be singing in the concert segment."

"Wow, Weiss!" Yang exclaimed. "That's great, isn't it? It's a prime opportunity to show off your skills!"

"I didn't know you could sing, Weiss!" Ruby said. "Sing something for us!"

"No," Weiss shot her down sharply. "You're going to have to wait for the concert, and not a moment sooner."

"This looks really expensive, Weiss," Blake said, looking at her card while Ruby pouted. "This must be a really grand event. Are you sure it's alright for us to go?"

"I'm performing, so it's only fair I get to invite some of my friends, right?" Weiss asked. "There's no way I'm going to just settle for some normal seats, either. I'm also inviting Team JNPR and Ne-"

She paused, going slightly red in the face. Clearing her throat, she continued.

"A-anyway," she said. "I'm going to pass them their invites, so I'll be leaving now."

"Have a nice trip~" Yang said, waving her off. "And say hi to Neptune for us!"

Sapphire watched her leave, and continued staring even after the door closed.

So Mercury was not lying about the event. That meant they really did have a plan to kill her. He was somewhat glad that he really would get the chance to face him, but along with that expectation was a pang of guilt.

If he decided to go after Mercury, that meant letting Weiss die.

"But man," Yang said. "Weiss sure has it rough."

"Yeah," Ruby agreed, worry evident on her face. "She's going to overwork herself if she has to practice while juggling her studies."

"Maybe you should try to worry her less, Ruby," Blake suggested. "It'll at least be a load off her back."

Sapphire watched the conversation without joining in, lost in thought. He had considered, and was still considering, asking them for help. He had personally seen Blake and Ruby in action, and Yang did not seem like a bad fighter either. They would be dependable as allies against things like Grimm, but in an actual battle with other people – especially trained mercenaries like Mercury – would they still be able to hold their own?

The scars on his back – the proof of his mistakes – tingled. Shaking his head, he left the room without anyone noticing.

-

Sapphire swore under his breath as he hung up. He had cut off the doctor in the middle of his rant, but he did not care.

Patrick had suffered severe migraines and fainted after yesterday's infiltration, apparently caused by the usage of his Semblance to alter the memories of the White Fang guards so he could replace them. The doctor was able to stabilize his condition, but he would not be waking up for a while. He was never to use his Semblance again – a fact that the doctor tried to drill into Sapphire's head.

He could not expect help from Patrick. Now that he had to give up on his last hope, Sapphire could only rely on himself, and by extension Combat Mode if he could not manage to harness his killing intent by then. If push came to shove, he would even use-

No. Genocide Mode would bring down the entire concert hall within seconds. Weiss and Mercury would not be the only people dead because of him. But even if he did manage to defeat Mercury, what was the point? There was no way to justify knowingly letting someone die; that would be equivalent to killing her with his own hands.

"What do I do?" he asked, letting the words scatter into the wind.

-

He was standing in a pool of blood. That was what it appeared to be at first, but as he stared at his own reflection across the dark red liquid, Sapphire realized that he was standing on an ocean of it.

The world had no end. The skies, tainted with an everlasting black, stretched without boundaries to meet the scarlet sea at edges his eyes could not see beyond. No matter where he cast his eyes, no matter where he ran, nothing changed. All he could hear were splashing sounds as his feet carried him across the blood, leaving countless ripples across the horrid landscape.

Then he heard a sound. It was a voice, small and weak as it barely crept its way into his ear. He spun around, expecting to see someone – anyone – there with him, glad that he was not the only person in this nightmare. But what he saw granted him no comfort.

Several faces, all pale with shock and pain, stared back at him with lifeless eyes that held his gaze. Their bodies were sinking, slowly but surely, into the deep red abyss that awaited them below, but they did not care; they just simply stared at him, unwilling to avert their gaze.

He recognized those faces. He had seen each and every one of them with his own eyes, and had fought with them side by side with his own body. He had heard their voices with his own ears, and spoke to them with his own voice.

And in the end, he had lost all of them, letting them down with his weakness.

A soft splash resounded as a black shoe stepped onto the ocean surface, sending violent ripples across the blood. As the figure emerged from the shadows, the corpses at her feet began to move, stretching out their hands towards Sapphire who was now paralyzed with fear.

"You couldn't kill me," Blake Belladonna said softly, her voice thundering in his eardrums. In her hands were the blade and sheath of her weapon Gambol Shroud, soaked and dripping with blood that was pouring back into the sea beneath her. "You couldn't avenge them."

Letting go of her weapon, the Faunus knelt down and plunged her hands into the ocean of blood. As she slowly got to her feet, she was carrying something covered with the blazing red liquid in her arms.

"And now…" she said, her eyes covered by her long, flowing hair.

As the blood slid off the object in her arms, Sapphire gasped. What Blake had just pulled out of the blood was not an object, but a person. A girl dressed in white, with long white hair tied into ponytail at the side of her head. He watched desperately, as though hoping that she would open her eyes, but no matter how long he stared, the corpse did not move.

He forced his eyes away from the body. He had to explain, to reason with Blake, to tell her that he had no intention of letting Weiss die, but she was no longer there; at some point in time, Weiss had been laying in the arms of a man instead – a man with silver grey hair and dark grey eyes.

"… You couldn't even protect one girl," Mercury finished. "You let her die, all so you could fight with me."

Sapphire fell. His feet sank swiftly into the blood with an unnatural force, as though something was pulling him under. He could feel something clamped around his legs, his waist, his shoulders, his neck, as they continued to drag him deeper.

Opening his mouth and swallowing the blood that came gushing in, Sapphire screamed.

-

He jerked awake, panting and gasping violently as his palpitations skyrocketed. His whole body was shaking badly, and a scream died in his throat before he could let it out.

The darkness of night obscured his vision, but a small glimmer of moonlight managed to dimly illuminate the room. He could faintly make out the crease marks on his blanket, and the stains from his perspiration as they trickled down his face.

"Sapphire?" a soft voice whispered. It was his sister.

As she knelt down next to him, putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder to calm him down, Sapphire reached for the side of her nightgown and held onto it tightly. He did not want to let go, and he did not want her to leave.

"What's wrong?" she asked, worry evident in her voice. "Did you have a nightmare?"

Silently, he nodded. He felt like throwing up, and he was sure a wave of tears was dangerously close to escaping his eyes, but he clenched his fists and forced everything back. He could not be weak. Not now.

"It's okay," his sister assured him, holding him close. "It's okay. It's just a dream. It's over now."

Sapphire did not reply as he buried his face in his sister's chest, still fighting back against the tears.

"They won't go away, sis," he choked out. "They just won't go away…"

He vaguely wondered why his sister sounded different, and why she smelled different. But there was no denying the warmth in her actions, and the reassurance in her voice.

They stayed like that for a few moments, before Sapphire finally pulled himself away, wiping his eyes to get rid of the last traces of tears.

"Are you feeling better now?" she asked.

"Yeah," he replied slowly. "Thanks, sis-"

When he looked up, Sapphire froze. The person in front of him, the person he had been holding onto, was not his sister. He was surely back in reality now, so she was not a figment of his imagination or a fragment of his nightmare, either.

It was Blake.

"B-Belladonna?" he panted, starting to recall his actions. "I-I'm sorry, I-"

"Shh," Blake put a finger to her lips. "The others are still sleeping."

Managing a hasty nod, Sapphire stopped talking and leaned against the wall. His eyes, which had been two glaring circles of red, slowly faded back to blue as he cursed and cursed and cursed himself in his head.

"What did you dream of?" Blake asked gingerly.

"It's nothing," Sapphire replied, keeping his volume as low as possible. "Don't worry about it."

He could not have fooled even a kid with that outright lie. Blake continued to stare at him for a few moments, searching his eyes for some sort of clue.

"Come with me," she said, reaching for his hand and pulling him to his feet.

Without waiting for a reply, she led him out of the room.


	5. Mistakes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> To the elite, mistakes are unforgivable.

She had become used to cheers. She had gotten sick of praise. She had not put in so much effort just to hear some empty words. She had not pushed herself just so people could shower her with flattery and a cacophony of applause that served as nothing more than a reminder that they were unable to do what she was capable of.

She once believed that those words were a sign of recognition towards her ability. She once thought that they were a testament that her efforts had borne fruit. But that all changed when her family entered the picture.

To them, what she did was only natural. It was only fitting for her to be capable of all those feats, for she was a Schnee. All that effort, all that hard work – they served no purpose other than to put her at a level above the talentless, and meet the expectations of her family of elites; she was not great, and she was not spectacular – she was merely 'acceptable'. It was a fact, and one that she would never shake no matter how hard she tried.

When she began harboring jealousy towards those who were better, the cheers had become nothing more than jeers and glaring insults.

All she could do was merely struggle helplessly in places that did not matter, precisely because it did not matter to anyone besides her. After all, who would care if she had chosen her hairstyle just to contrast her dress's design?

Hard work did not lead to success. All it ever did was to provide her with satisfactory results. She may have been amazing to the common folk, but she was merely average at best among the elites. To make matters worse, there were those among the common people who were better than she was by far. If the common folk had seen them, they would surely treat Weiss as nothing more than a disappointment.

In order to not disappoint her family, her name, she worked harder than anyone, and suffered more than anyone just to barely remain where she was. Putting in colossal amounts of effort for everything was simply a natural thing for her to do, because she was only mediocre.

To Weiss Schnee, borrowing help from others was a sign of weakness. She had the pride of a Schnee – the curse of having to be above the rest – and so she could not depend on others. She had expectations to meet, and throughout her life she had always handled them alone. Now was no different.

Normal people could deal with and even entertain the thought of failure. Regular folk could settle for something short of the best. Mediocre individuals could accept help from others to succeed. But the elite strived alone. The elite always succeed and never fail, for when they do, their mistakes would last forever.

Touching the scar across her left eye gingerly, Weiss began to sing.

-

There were many things one could learn from being a mercenary. In order to ensure that they could handle any mission, they had to pick up a myriad of skills. One of them was being able to speak and write in other languages. That also meant that idiots like Luke would go around learning how to swear in said languages first, before passing that much needed knowledge around. Sapphire had not been particularly thankful for those lessons, but he knew when they were useful. Like now, for instance.

Exploiting the needlessly colorful vocabulary at his disposal, Sapphire admonished himself in his head for being so stupid as he followed Blake across the darkened hallways. She had to slow down for him because the night was quiet, and the usually negligible sounds that Lifesaver made with each running step became a problem, but they managed to progress quickly regardless.

"Where're we going?" Sapphire asked as they snuck into the main building where the classrooms were. "If you want to beat me up, there's always-"

"It's just a little further," Blake whispered. "Come on."

She led him further into the building, and finally stopped outside one of the classrooms. Sapphire never attended classes or lectures, so he failed to notice what was special about that particular one.

"Look, if it's an apology that-" he began, but before Blake could shut him up a distant song cut across him.

That voice sounded familiar, but only somewhat. Sapphire instinctively knew that it was someone he was acquainted with that was singing, but he could not put his finger on the identity. He stood there for a few seconds, wondering why that was so; if it was someone with such a distinctive, refined voice, how could he have forgotten who it belonged to?

The singing was elegant despite being muffled by the hard wood of the door, and while the words were not clear, the emotions behind the lyrics were clearly expressed. Momentarily forgetting about the awkward situation in the dorm room merely minutes ago, Sapphire approached the source of that song.

Peeking through the slightest of openings offered by the doors, Sapphire was greeted by the sight of an almost empty classroom. The rows of empty seats and tables were illuminated by a gentle, pale blue glow as the source – a shimmering florescent orb – rested by the feet of a beautiful girl on the platform where the lecturer would usually stand.

Eyes closed, Weiss Schnee stood confidently as she let her singing fill the space. The soft glow from her orb painted the walls with a tranquil shade, giving off a mystical vibe. If Sapphire had been a child, he might have even thought she was a fairy, standing on the magical lake where her pure figure resided.

Her voice was firm, confident and powerful. It was not as captivating as his sister's, but it had a different charm of its own. It offered not reassurance, but instead tugged at Sapphire's heartstrings in a way Cinder's voice could not. It did, however, remind him of something very familiar.

Sorrow and solitude. Even though Weiss was singing a song with cheerful lyrics, Sapphire felt nothing but a crushing throb in his chest. His feelings were almost completely under control by now, but the white-haired girl's song was coaxing them back out into the open. Towards the Ice Queen standing in front of an empty lecture hall, Sapphire felt a strange similarity between them that made his control slip.

"She's been like this for a while now," Blake said, leaning against the wall as she listened. "On most days she would just be up studying, but recently she's been coming here to practice."

"How did you know-" Sapphire began, before stopping short when he looked at Blake and her cat ears. "Oh. She must not have been very subtle."

"She tries," Blake defends. "I'm just sensitive to most sounds. Like the groans of a guy having a nightmare, for instance."

"What's your purpose for bringing me here?" Sapphire asked, turning away from the door and sitting down on the ground. "You want me to go in there and sing a duet?"

"I wanted to show you that we're always watching," Blake replied seriously. "I know it's not easy for you to place all your trust in us yet, but we're a team and-"

"No," Sapphire said. "Stop. Please. No cheesy bull-"

"You're not alone," Blake continued. "And even if you feel the need to handle everything by yourself, I just wanted you to know that there are people who can tell you're suffering. We may keep quiet, but don't think that we don't know anything. As Ruby would say, 'friends look out for each other'."

"Just like how you're watching over her?" Sapphire asked, pointing a thumb towards the room behind him, where Weiss continued to rehearse tirelessly. "Feels like stalking to me."

"Yes," Blake answered seriously, nodding. "We've been watching over her for all time, even though sometimes it's just me who's awake. We know what Weiss is like, so we kept it quiet. She works hard where people can see, but when no one is looking she works even harder. That's the side of her she's unwilling to let anyone else know about. Until she's ready to lean on us, we'll keep supporting her in spirit. That goes for you, too."

Sapphire shook his head derisively and did not reply. He could not explain the strange spark of happiness in him that was ignited by her words, but he snuffed it out immediately before understanding why. He had wanted this: he had wanted people he could call 'friends', but in a mercenary's life, such ties were unnecessary. Those who made the mistake of forming them would eventually find themselves drowning in despair when everyone else died around them. Such was their fate.

"If you don't want to talk about it, I can pretend that tonight never happened," Blake offered. "But just so it's out there, I'm willing to listen if you're ever in the mood to talk."

He did not have to fight alone. He did not have to worry alone. He, like Weiss, had tried to shoulder everything by themselves to avoid worrying others, but in the process of doing so they had forgotten. They forgot that the very people they did not want to worry also did not want to see them suffer either, much less alone.

But even though Sapphire realized that, he still hesitated.

"I'm just uneasy," he lied. "You know how I… act differently in public? I'm just… worried that I'm getting soft."

It was not entirely a lie. Everyone surely knew about his joke of a façade, especially after the fight with Blake, but Sapphire decided to keep it anyway; in front of children, there was no need to maintain a soldier's face after all. He helped them occasionally, he joined in on their pointless conversations, and he tolerated their nonsensical antics instead of just keeping quiet and snapping at anyone who came near. He had thought that it was the best way to blend in, but he could not shake the remote possibility that he had simply wanted to interact with people all along, instead of being the joyless jerk that he was.

"Maybe that's just who you were before you became a mercenary," Blake suggested. "Maybe that's just who you're meant to be."

"Maybe," Sapphire conceded. He was pretty sure he managed to fool Blake with that lie, because he was starting to believe it too; his level of chattiness right now was starting to worry him. Maybe he should have just kept quiet throughout the entire conversation after all.

"Why not just be honest with yourself?" Blake asked. "It'll make your life a lot easier as well. I know a friend of mine who would tell you the same thing."

He knew that. Sapphire was well aware that if he discarded that pointless mask, he would not have to bother with acting in front of people. He would be able to interact with people as Sapphire Fall, not as a mercenary. But he knew himself well enough that if he ever did that, he would become emotionally attached to the people he would eventually call 'friends'. If he did that, he would ultimately be broken again, standing in a pool of blood that was not his.

"Well, shall we head back?" Blake asked. "It's getting a little cold."

"Might as well," Sapphire replied, getting to his feet. "Thanks for, um, listening."

"It's refreshing to hear about something other than killing me from you," Blake said, smiling. "So it's alright."

As he followed the Faunus back to the dorms, Sapphire considered her words. With a fleeting glance towards the direction of the classrooms, he thought about the girl whose singing was eloquent in its solitude above all else. He did not give up the idea of killing Mercury, but Blake's words made him even more unwilling to give up on saving Weiss.

It was clear, even to a bystander like Sapphire, that Weiss was a precious friend to the other girls of Team RWBY. It was unnecessarily obvious to Sapphire what they would feel if Weiss were to die at the hands of the White Fang. It was not that Sapphire did not understand the importance of teamwork, but upon hearing Blake's words, he had been forcefully reminded of its necessity.

He could either fight Mercury and let Weiss die, or save her and let Mercury escape. It was not a battle he could win alone. No matter how he saw it, the former mercenary could not think of another solution.

 _It's time to bring in backup,_ he thought resolutely.

-

He did not have to wait for long before the door opened. He knew that at this time, Team RWBY was at class and they were in their room. He knew that this was the only time to ask.

"Oh, heya Saph," Jaune greeted. "Er… You don't mind if I call you that, right?"

"Anything goes," Sapphire replied. "Listen, Arc. Did your team get an invitation from Sch- Weiss to go to some celebration concert thing?"

"Yeah, we all did," Jaune answered in a somewhat disappointed manner. "She said she meant to invite Pyrrha only but the rest of us could tag along if we wanted to."

"Is the entire team in there?" Sapphire asked, his tone becoming tenser.

"Yeah, they're here," Jaune replied, looking a little perplexed. "What's up?"

Sapphire paused. Was he really prepared to make the same mistake again? Was he ready to let other people put their lives on the line because of his weakness?

"There's something I need Team JNPR's help with," He said at last. "I need you to help me save Weiss's life."


	6. Scars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They may not both be elites, but it did not mean they could not both have scars for their mistakes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to Chapter 19. If the mood seems way too lighthearted right now, I'd like to say that yes this is a more lighthearted arc. Partially because of the way I wanted to settle Weiss's arc and partially because the next arc is more serious throughout. I hope you bear with me.
> 
> And without further ado…

"So Roman intends to assassinate Weiss Schnee at the concert," Cinder mused, resting her chin on her palm as she looked out the window. "Such a simpleton."

"At least he has a plan to get the sniper into the concert hall," Emerald shrugged. "Can't say that ignoring Schnee's friends is a good move, though."

"We'll need a distraction," Cinder thought aloud. "What do you think, Mercury?"

"Huh?" Mercury asked, removing his earphones. "Sorry, wasn't paying attention."

"We're discussing something important and you're listening to music?" Emerald asked incredulously. "You sure take it easy."

"Stress is bad for your skin," Mercury said slyly, enjoying Emerald's scowl. He turned to Cinder. "If it's alright, I want to be added to the team for that mission."

Cinder looked at Mercury, her eyes slightly wide with surprise and, possibly, amusement. Emerald raised an eyebrow.

"Why the sudden interest?" Cinder asked.

"I hate waiting," Mercury replied. "I've always been an action sort of guy, y'know? Besides, if it comes down to a fight, you need a guy with the skills, right?"

"… Very well," Cinder consented after some thinking. "Watch your back, Mercury; we don't have to put so much effort into Roman's plan. I already have the backup in motion."

"Yeah, got it," Mercury replied. He put in some effort to conceal his smirk as he stuffed the earphones back into his ear again, listening intently.

" _… our help?_ " Jaune Arc's voice reached his ears, albeit a little unclear. He had not expected the bug he planted on Nikos during their fight to be effective this early, but listening in on their conversations today had yielded some unexpected results. " _And what's this about saving Weiss's life?_ "

" _Let's discuss this inside,_ " Sapphire's voice spoke up. Mercury had not expected him to be at Beacon, but it was certainly a stroke of good luck for him that he was. Even though he had gone beyond expectations and sought the help of other people, knowing of that fact made Mercury one step ahead of his former partner.

 _Thanks for improving my chances, Saph,_ he thought.

-

The members of team JNPR sat on their respective beds, each wearing a solemn expression. Even Nora could not find a reason to look happy right now. Sapphire stood leaning against the door, giving them the time to absorb what he had just said.

"Are you certain?" Pyrrha asked. "Is the White Fang really going to try and kill Weiss at the event?"

"Regardless of who's pulling the strings, the perpetrators will be the White Fang," Sapphire replied. "What I don't know is how they intend to go about doing it. That's why I need you guys to help me guard the concert hall on that day."

"This is kind of unexpected," Pyrrha said. "Sorry if I sound insensitive, but you didn't seem like the type to ask others for help. Is something the matter?"

Sapphire did not reply immediately. Pyrrha's comment made him realize that it really was unlike him to approach them like this, but he had already chosen to walk down this path. There was no going back now.

"I'm well aware of my own limits," he offered. "Anyway, as I was saying, I need you guys to help me with thwarting their plan."

"Won't there be security around on the day itself?" Jaune asked. "Wouldn't it be fine to leave it to them?"

"I don't trust the security," Sapphire said. "If they're capable of pulling something like this off, they'll surely have a way to bypass security without problem. If they even have one accomplice or spy inside, then the entire security detail becomes useless. That's why we'll operate outside of anyone's knowledge, on the same grounds as them."

"But we don't know the security details," Pyrrha pointed out.

"Doesn't matter," Sapphire answered. "They don't know about us. We know their target is Weiss, so they'll have to go to the one auditorium inside the concert hall where she'll be performing at, or be at the dinner reception. If we keep an eye on the only places they must go to, it'll be easier to intercept."

"What do you have in mind?" Ren asked.

"I need someone at a different place throughout the event," Sapphire elaborated. "One person to watch over the entire dinner reception hall and monitor all the food that comes in to check for poison, one person to be outside the auditorium to check if anyone enters at weird timings or if the guards are behaving strangely, and two people to help patrol the entire area to look for hidden reinforcements or explosives in case they intend to up the scale of the attack."

"What about inside the auditorium?" Nora asked. Sapphire paused for a moment upon realizing that she was actually being serious for once.

"Team RWBY's been invited," he replied. "Blake's got night vision, and they're in the VIP seats like you guys. That means they're seated on the balcony above the average crowd, giving them a good vantage point. They'll know if anyone inside the auditorium is pulling any stunts. Besides, every individual guest has been invited individually, so they won't be able to sneak an assailant in amongst them with the special features of the invites around; they'll have to bring them in via infiltrating security, staff or someone who can gain access without an invitation. That's why our objective is to prevent them from ever entering the auditorium where Weiss will be, not sniffing him out from the crowd."

-

Mercury smiled. It went to show just how badly planned Torchwick's plan was; he had already smuggled some White Fang goons into the concert hall, and on the actual day he planned to bring in more via disguising them as cleaning staff or security. Without Sapphire being informed, the plan might have worked, if not for the presence of this 'Blake' that he mentioned. Torchwick and the White Fang would never have bothered to think that far to consider that a Faunus would be invited to the event, given how the Schnee Dust Company was not on particularly friendly terms with the Faunus species.

While that lack of foresight should have been their downfall, Roman's plan was not entirely foiled. As a matter of fact, Sapphire's idea had given Mercury the perfect means of ensuring the plan would work.

Instead of sneaking in, Sapphire had intended to use the invites they had to formally enter before dispersing to their respective positions. They were going to enter the concert hall, but not the actual auditorium. Furthermore, Team JNPR's private balcony was located directly behind Team RWBY's. Sapphire's plan had one fatal flaw, and Mercury knew just how to exploit it.

 _Still as careless as ever,_ he mused.

Cinder had said that there was no need to try too hard, but Mercury could not let this chance go. This was his chance to best Sapphire and prove that both in planning and combat, he was the superior one.

-

"… And that pretty much sums it up," Sapphire concluded. "Are you guys in?"

"I'm all for it," Pyrrha replied. "I can't just sit around while Weiss is in danger. Right, Jaune?"

"Agreed," Jaune stood up. "Weiss is friend of ours, and we won't just twiddle our thumbs if she needs help. I'm in."

He turns to his team. Sapphire thought he would be telling them all to go, but the words that emerged from the blonde's mouth surprised him.

"But if I have to be honest, I'd say I rather you guys don't go," he said. "I want to help protect Weiss, but I don't want you guys to get hurt either."

"Jaune-" Pyrrha began.

"I know, Pyrrha," he assured her. "That's why I'm asking you guys as a teammate if you're willing to come with me to help Saph. I don't want you guys to endanger yourselves, but if that's your decision I won't stop you."

"Don't be so awkward, Jaune!" Pyrrha said happily, thumping him on the back. "Of course we'd stand with you!"

"I'm in~" Nora replied cheerfully.

"I agree," Ren adds. "But I don't want Nora to participate."

The room went quiet for a few minutes. Everyone turned to look at Ren, with Sapphire being the only person who was not extremely surprised.

"What?" Nora exclaimed, her expression alternating between hurt and surprise. "Why?"

"This isn't like riding an Ursa, Nora," Ren explained calmly. "These are actual extremists we're talking about. There's too much danger that you'll be exposed to."

"But Ren, I can handle myself!" Nora whined. "Sapphy needs help, so why can't I help?"

"Fighting against the White Fang is far more dangerous," Ren reasoned. "You could lose your life, Nora."

"This could take a while," Pyrrha muttered, walking up to Sapphire. "We'll tell Weiss we've got something else on that day and can't make it. When we can confirm Nora's participation, we'll let you know, okay?"

"I got it," Sapphire nodded, turning to leave. "Thanks."

Closing the door behind him, he made his exit before he heard the shouting start.

-

_I've gone and done it._

Heaving a heavy sigh, Sapphire shook his head, sorting out his thoughts as he leaned against the wall.

He had actually gone and asked Team JNPR for help. Despite all his mistakes in the past, and all the pain he endured, he still ended up giving in to his weakness and depending on someone else. Now, all he could do was to pray that it all ends well.

Ren's refusal to let Nora join in on the plan was understandable. As youths experiencing the phenomenon called 'love' – or as Sapphire saw it, mere infatuation – to want to protect their significant other was a common thing to do. He was actually more surprised at Jaune' and Pyrrha's lack of concern for each other in agreeing.

While wondering what his next move would be if Nora had to turn him down, Sapphire turned and headed for the stairs. While considering asking Blake's monkey boyfriend, a familiar figure walked into his view.

"Schnee?" He called out. Had he spent that much time talking to Team JNPR?

"I thought I told you to call me Wei-ai-ai-eiss," Weiss grumbled, unsuccessfully stifling a yawn. Even with her evident fatigue her words still had that undeniable bite.

It was usually at times like this that Sapphire would make a snide remark, but he refrained. After the serious talk earlier, he had not yet the time to put on his façade. Instead, he reached into his pockets and produced a plastic case.

"Here," he said, offering it to her. "Take it."

"What is it?" Weiss asked dubiously.

"Pills," Sapphire replied. "It'll give you enough energy to stay awake for about twelve hours, depending on your body's resistance to foreign substances."

"You sound like a salesman," Weiss muttered. "Where'd you get this?"

"I was formerly a mercenary," Sapphire reminded her. "We have to stay up for days or weeks on end for certain missions and willpower isn't enough sometimes. Don't worry, it's not illegal or anything."

"Well, okay," Weiss said hesitantly, taking it. "Thanks, I guess."

"I know I probably shouldn't be saying this," Sapphire said. "But you should watch your health. You look a zombie."

"I'm fine," Weiss snapped, heading towards the room. "I know what I'm doing."

"Clearly not," Sapphire observed, as Weiss stumbled while walking on flat ground. "I recognize fatigue when I see it, snowflake."

"Shut up," Weiss growled, opening the door and stepping into the room. Sighing, Sapphire followed her. His troubles were never ending.

"You're not going to perform well if you wear yourself out now, you know," Sapphire pointed out, leaning against the door. "I'm sure you didn't give us the VIP seats to watch some third-rate singing."

"It'll be flawless," Weiss said, picking up some books and attempting to exit the room. "Get out of my way."

"In a moment," Sapphire replied. "I don't think it's fair for me to be lectured alone, so I'm gonna do some of my own now."

"What're you talking about?" Weiss asked, her frustration matched only by her confusion.

"You're exhausted," Sapphire stated. "You need some rest. By the look on your face I wager you won't even be able to manage ten steps after leaving this room."

"I don't have time for this," Weiss said, attempting to push him away, but to no avail. "Now move. I have classes to attend."

"I could get the rest of the team to wrestle you to bed," Sapphire suggested. "I've seen what fatigue can do to people. Resting for one day won't kill you. You're-"

"Shut up!" Weiss screeched. The lack of sleep was clearly taking its toll on her mental health. "Stop telling me to rest or what to do! You have no idea what kind of expectations I have to live up to! Do you really think I have the luxury of slacking off?!"

"Yeah, I don't," Sapphire admitted. He had expected her to snap at him, granted he had anticipated it to come a lot later. "I give you that, but there's nothing worth destroying yourself for. I may not be the best example, but I'm telling you that if you keep pushing yourself you'll never truly excel at what you do."

"So you're telling me to stop trying?!" Weiss fired back. "Do you have any idea how important this is?! I can't afford a single mistake! If I don't spend every available second practicing-"

"Improvise," Sapphire suggested. "That's part and parcel of performing, isn't it? If you mess up, you improvise. Besides, it'll be a bigger mistake to not know when your body needs a break."

"You don't get it, do you?!" Weiss roared. "People like me can't afford to make mistakes! If we ever make a single mistake, there'll be no recovering from it! You can't just improvise from something like that!"

Sapphire held back his words. Weiss probably could not hear anything he said right now anyway.

"Do you see this?!" Weiss continued, pushing aside her hair a little and pointing at the scar across her left eye. "This is what happens when the elite mess up! This is what happens when we make a mistake! It just stays forever and… and…"

She paused, catching her breath as she supported herself with one hand against the wall.

"So you see them as an ugly reminder," Sapphire muttered. He paused for a few moments. "Hey, I'm gonna flash you for a while, so don't scream."

"Wha-" Weiss began, but Sapphire had already turned around and was removing his shirt. "Wait, what are-"

She gasped. In front of her, on Sapphire's bare back, were two long, wide scars that looked like they were driven deep into his body. There was no need to even imagine how they must have hurt when the wounds were first made; the amount of blood loss was frightening to think about as well.

"These are marks of my mistakes," Sapphire said, not turning around. "Makes yours look small in comparison, yeah? I got this for disobeying the higher ups and disrupting a mission by fighting with my teammates. I still remember the details: they whipped me with a chain that had Dust on it, and after the second lash my Semblance forcefully activated and strengthened my body. That's why only two scars are visible now."

"Why?" Weiss whispered. "You were a mercenary, right? You just take orders for money, so why did you…?"

"I wonder," Sapphire sighed. "Like you, I knew what was expected of me but I made a decision knowing that it would be a mistake. I knew what I had to do, but in the end I chose what I believed was right.

"I was supposed to massacre a village of Faunus and humans," he went on. "I eavesdropped on the meeting between the client and the higher-ups beforehand, and found that it was simply so that the guy could reclaim that land and use it for some stupid construction. During the mission debrief, we were told the village was a nest of White Fang scum, and I was the only one who knew it was a lie. I started having second thoughts, and in the end I went against orders and saved some of them. I never really thought about it after that, because I've made plenty of other mistakes along the way. But when I spoke to Scarlatina, I was glad for that mistake."

Weiss's eyes widened in surprise.

"She was one of the people I saved that day," Sapphire said. "She even thanked me for it. Her gratitude made me think about that decision. Sure, it was a mistake, but it didn't mean I was wrong."

Putting on his shirt, Sapphire turned back to face Weiss, who now wore a frightened expression on her face.

"A mistake is only something that's wrong in the eyes of other people," he said. "I was a mercenary, but I went against my orders; that's a mistake no doubt, but I no longer have any doubt that it was the right thing to do. Sure, it may be a mistake for you to not push yourself to beyond your limits, but I don't think that's the wrong thing to do, Weiss."

"But…" Weiss tried racking her brain for the right words, but nothing came out.

"Mistakes are marks to show that we're able to make our own decisions," Sapphire said. "It shows that we are capable of doing something that deviates from what others deem as 'right'. If you spend your life living by other people's standards, you'll never be yourself. Your scar is proof that you are you, and not simply a Schnee or an image. Look into yourself, and look at yourself, snowflake. You know what's right. Decide it yourself for once."

He waited her out, letting the silence fill in the gap in the meantime. He knew that she would normally be able to counter everything he said, but in her current state she could hardly even object anymore. Eventually, Weiss broke eye contact and sighed, walking over to her bed and sitting down.

"I thought you weren't a fan of cheesy stuff," she said at last.

"Only when I'm the one listening to them," Sapphire mumbled under his breath.

"I know what I'm doing," Weiss reassured him. "I was just a little agitated because I thought you… were going to make me stop practicing entirely and go join in their crazy everyday stunts instead or something."

"If I did, you'd kill me," Sapphire shrugged. That was a terrible excuse; he had clearly said 'one day' after all. However, considering how tired she was, he let it slide. "Then your sister would revive me and kill me again. Rinse and repeat. Now that I think about it, at least she'd be happy that way."

"I thought you were a solemn guy," Weiss admitted, lying down on her bed. "But you turned out to be a worrywart like Ruby."

Sapphire froze. Why was he acting so friendly when he was not putting on a façade? And why was it so natural to him?

"I gotta be the gentleman every now and then," he said hastily. "I don't always ignore my manners, remember?"

"Say," Weiss mentioned, her eyelids starting to grow heavy. "Those pills… you gave me…"

"Yeah," Sapphire admitted. "They were sleeping pills. They help me sleep when I get nightmares."

"I see…" Weiss muttered, before giving in to the temptation of sleep and shutting her eyes.

"Right, problem solved," Sapphire said to himself, turning around and leaving the room.

He did not have the time to rest. Despite everything he said, he had no intention of following any of those words himself. He was fine with pushing himself, with destroying himself, but he could not let someone else share that fate.

He was already dying. Pushing himself now did not matter. He had someone he had to kill, and someone he had to save. He did not have any reason or need to stop and rest.

Eyes blazing red, Sapphire headed for the Emerald Forest once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wanted a little bit of interaction between Weiss and Sapphire here, before the actual exploring of Weiss's character comes in. I try not to make these moments drag way too long, but I hope they aren't too short either...
> 
> Till next chapter!


	7. See yourself

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sapphire encounters one of his biggest flaws.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to chapter 20! I've just watched Volume 2 Episode 8, and apparently there's this new main character called Zwei. I'm interested in bringing him in, but not immediately; it might take a while. Just FYI.
> 
> I'm sticking to Dust instead of Glass for Cinder right now, coz of the way this fanfic is planned. Probably may deviate from the canon, but then again, this was started before Volume 2 Episode 7 was released so I guess it can't be helped; I cannot change the story's elements now to match the canon, although I will try…
> 
> Also, if you were wondering, Blake is not going to be a side character just because her arc's over. She's still going to get some spotlight later in the story, and amongst the four heroines she's the one who I'm hoping to develop a friend/partner relationship with Sapphire.
> 
> And now, on with the story:

The concrete felt cool and damp against his cheeks as he lay there, unmoving. It felt somewhat soothing, even though it did nothing for the inferno ignited on his back.

He hazily wondered if his spine was damaged. His mind had stopped working since the first lash, and the peculiar sensation that was his Semblance allowed his consciousness to hold after the second. Now that it was over, he wanted to reach back and check for bleeding, but every minute movement sent terrible shockwaves of pain throughout his body.

He wondered if it was worth it. Sure, it might not have been the right thing to do, but slaughtering the entire village had been his mission. Why should he care if the White Fang part was a lie? The client's true motives were of no concern to him; he was a mercenary, and he had no morals as long as he got paid.

There was a knock on the door. Being unable to move, Sapphire ignored the person on the other side. It was probably someone from his team, here to jeer at him for landing up in solitary confinement anyway.

"Hey, Saph," Luke's voice came from the other side. "You still kickin'?"

"No," Sapphire replied, wincing from the effort. "As soon as I learn how to pass through walls my spirit's gonna go snap your neck."

"Oh no, I am so scared," Luke replied flatly. "I am practically shaking in my boots right now. Please spare me, o vengeful one."

"What'd you want?" Sapphire asked grumpily.

With a light, scraping sound, the smell of food wafted into the room. Sapphire tried looking up, but failed miserably in his attempt.

"I heard you're getting nothing but water these three days," Luke said. "You're already nothing but skin and bones for a young brat, too; any lighter and you'll be floating."

Sapphire did not reply. He vaguely remembered Luke asking them to stop after the twelfth hit of the chain, which he was thankful but could not fathom why. Luke had no reason to step in for him, even if they were partners, but Luke had done it anyway. Now, he even brought Sapphire food – an act that would probably land him in a worse punishment than what Sapphire had to endure.

"Hey, Saph," Luke spoke up over Sapphire's brooding silence. "Why did you do it?"

He did not need to spell it out. Sapphire knew perfectly well what Luke was referring to. So that was his intention: to find out why Sapphire saved those villagers and even threatened to kill anyone who wanted to go after them.

"Who knows?" Sapphire replied. "Maybe I just felt like playing the bad guy and wanted an excuse to beat up you bunch of wannabes."

"To support the White Fang?" Luke asked, laughing.

"Maybe I want to enlist," Sapphire replied, panting; the talking was oddly tiring for him right now.

He could not drag Luke down with him. Luke knew nothing, and he simply went by his orders. There was no reason to tell him the truth; what good would it do for anyone anymore?

"Well, you're young after all," Luke reasoned. "You're probably undergoing what they call a 'rebellious phase', yeah?"

Sapphire did not reply. Instead, he dragged his battered body closer to the door, reaching for the plate of what looked like rice with some meat at the side.

"You won't let me get into any more trouble, huh?" Luke said at last after a lengthy silence. "You're a good fella, Saph. A softy, sure, but a nice guy."

"Says the softy who brought me food," Sapphire replied, managing to sit up and resting the side of one arm against the cold metal door.

"Rascal," Luke said, amusement evident in his voice. "You've got a good heart, kid. Whatever you do, don't lose it."

-

A sharp cracking sound resounded, followed shortly by the collapsing of the tree Sapphire snapped. The force had come from a simple kick, its force amplified by his Semblance while Lifesaver took on Combat Mode.

Sapphire winced. Hastily returning his boots to Neutral Mode, he grit his teeth as he waited for the pain to subside. He had been hoping to manage some decent moves in Combat Mode, but things simply did not go the way he wanted it to.

Due to the pain caused by activating Combat Mode, Sapphire's movements became severely restricted. Along with the increase in physical strength, mental capacity and reaction speed, the worsened pain made it nearly impossible for Sapphire to move his legs beyond basic steps and small jumps. Even though his speed increased, his movements were far more sluggish in nature and he was actually much less agile and flexible.

Using Combat Mode not only had a time limit because of the pain, but it effectively traded technique for raw power. If Sapphire wanted to combat Mercury, he needed to be able to overcome that trade-off. If he could manage to keep his technique in Combat Mode, having a lack of a killing intent would still allow him to defeat his former partner.

The failure at managing that was becoming really frustrating. That, along with the fact that he had run out of Grimms to kill, was starting to get on Sapphire's nerves. Then again, what he said to Weiss earlier was probably another factor.

"Look into yourself?!" He shouted, charging at another tree and slashing at it with Daybreak and Duskfall. "Look at yourself?!"

He then proceeded to do a roundhouse kick on a nearby bush, removing a large portion and sending countless leaves into the air.

He had no right to lecture her. He had no right to tell her what to do, and yet he did it anyway. He said those words which were not only cheesy, but completely unlike him.

And worse of all, he had meant them.

Tearing through several more trees, bushes and patches of grass, Sapphire finally stopped, panting as he stood alone against the remaining volume of forest, which still felt as imposing as ever. His irises were burning red due to his emotional outburst, but he did not seem to care.

"Taking out your frustrations on agriculture is a bad sign, you know."

Without actually meaning to do so, Sapphire turned and glared at Ozpin as the latter walked up to him with a cup of coffee in his hands. He had but a millimeter of a smile on his face.

"Deforestation can be considered a very serious offense, you know," Ozpin pointed out.

"What do you want?" Sapphire snapped. He was in no mood for a witty remark at all, and had even less patience for whatever it was that Ozpin was going to say.

"Nothing," the headmaster replied. "I was just simply checking out the condition of the forest, considering that someone has recently snuck in here on several accounts outside of lessons, and killed most of the Grimm. We were thinking of doing some investigation and maybe change the curriculum a bit, you see."

"Good luck with that," Sapphire muttered, folding up his weapons and turning away.

"Trying to bring out your killing intent?" Ozpin asked casually, as though he was discussing the weather. Sapphire spun around and glared at him. "You will never be able to release it like this, you know."

"And why is that?" Sapphire snarled.

"Because you're seeking the wrong trigger," Ozpin replied easily. "Most mercenaries discard their morals and as such they are capable of summoning their killing intent as a form of self-defense. It's because they only look out for themselves that they are able to use it as a means of protection. You, however, look to others more than you do to yourself. You care too much, and it's always a care for others because of your heart. This would be admirable, if you did not limit your own viewpoint that way."

Sapphire took a single step forward, his fists clenched and his weapons ready. He was getting sick and tired of people always telling him that he had a 'heart'; it was a constant reminder of how he failed as a mercenary. No matter how much salvation those words brought him, he could not bring himself to fully accept them.

"In your eyes, all you can see are other people," Ozpin pointed out. "You want to protect them, you care for them, and you will fly into a rage over them being hurt. Yet, you never once look at yourself. You are never a target of your own concern, and as such you never look out for yourself. If you see others in danger, you would push yourself regardless of whatever harm you end up facing. I'd say you are selfless, but it's really just simple ignorance."

Sapphire paused. He did not care if Ozpin was insulting him; he was used to being made a joke of by many others. What he could not understand was where he intended to go with this.

"If you deny yourself as a proper individual, you have no right to protect others," Ozpin continued. "You would just be a weapon – lethal and able to protect those around it, but ultimately nothing but an easily broken tool. Your source of strength comes from the desire to protect and fight for others, not yourself, so it's only natural you cannot find your killing intent by putting yourself in danger."

So that was it. Ozpin wanted to brainwash him with the 'power of friendship' crap again. There was no way he would fall for-

"Have you ever wondered why everyone around you dies, even though you keep getting stronger?"

Sapphire's blood ran cold at those words. Even his Semblance felt like it faded away upon hearing that question. It was a question that had haunted him for many years without giving him an answer.

"Your lack of acknowledgement of your own worth makes you go extra miles only to protect others," Ozpin said. "Have you ever wondered if it was because you failed to look out for yourself that you could not protect yourself, and that this self-inflicted vulnerability made others step in to protect you instead?"

_We're always watching._

Blake's words returned vividly to Sapphire's numb mind as his eyes widened in shock and horror. He could not see himself, therefore others had to look out for him. Was that the reason why everyone around him perished? Was it simply because he had made them worry about him, while he was worrying about them? In the end, it was not his powerlessness that killed them.

It was his inability to see himself.

He refused to give himself any importance, but it only made others lose their lives. He had thought it was fine this way, but it merely garnered more attention from those around him. His own stupidity and childishness led to their deaths. What kind of twisted joke was this?

"You may have a good heart, but it does not mean your acts of goodwill will necessarily lead to better outcomes," Ozpin finished. "Sometimes, being a little selfish can be useful. Fortunately, there is still a chance to make things right. With your current teammates, you just might be able to recover your sense of self. If you are able to accept yourself, I'm sure you'll be able to ascend to greater heights. I have high expectations of you."

With that, the older man left, walking away from a boy who was once again thrown into inner conflicts. Behind a nearby tree, Glynda Goodwitch waited, her hands folded across her chest as she scowled.

"You may be nice with the girls, but you're downright ruthless with the boys," she commented.

"He needs to take the next step, Glynda," Ozpin assured her with a smile. "He has come to terms with accepting friends; now it is time for him to accept himself."

"And breaking his will like that is the way to do it?" Glynda enquired.

"He is stronger than that," Ozpin said with confidence. "In some ways, he might even be stronger than I am."

-

Weiss sighed. She listened without speaking, feeling defeated, as her sister went on and on about the same thing.

"… And of course you had to sleep through the entire day," Winter said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "After all, the concert is so far away, isn't it? You have all the time in the world to practice, Weiss! Or perhaps you're so talented you don't need to practice anymore?"

She was stressed. Weiss had heard that tone way too many times, so she had become accustomed to it. Winter was never that strict with her; she merely forgot everything else when urgent matters occupied her attention. When she finally calms down, she would call back and apologize. It was pretty much a common routine. Most of the time, anyway; Winter's workload was insane after all.

"I understand," Weiss said. "I will get back to practicing immediately."

When she hung up, the white-haired heiress let loose a heavy sigh. She did not particularly regret taking that nap, since it did manage to energize her, but she was frustrated over her lack of ability.

She had to push herself because she was not good enough. She had forgotten during the talk with Sapphire that she was mediocre; the excessive practicing merely narrowed the gap. She had to work hard because unlike Pyrrha, Ruby and many others, she had no talent. She was inferior.

Cursing herself for her stupidity, Weiss forcefully pushed all of Sapphire's words to the back of her mind. This was what she wanted. This was what she knew was right: she would do whatever it took, not to live up to the expectations of being a Schnee, and not to prevent making mistakes as an elite.

She would do whatever it took, just to be able to stand at where they stood.


	8. Your Other

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even if you're a Huntress or Huntsman, there are times you think of your significant other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to chapter 21!
> 
> Just a little clarification about where this story takes place: while this is an AU, there will be similarities to the canon up till Volume 2, Episode 7 (Dance Dance Infiltration), with the prom and all. I added a note to the first chapter just in case as well.
> 
> Hopefully that clears up some doubt, and a big thank you to the reader who brought this up!
> 
> Quite a bit of throwback to Volume 1, Episode 4 (The First Step) here, so if you forgot, um… Shame on you.
> 
> Anyway, moving on…

"What's wrong with you?!"

Those words escaped his lips out of impulse. Even if he was merely six, he knew very well that there were better things to say, and that much smarter options were available, but he just did not care at that moment.

They had made her cry, and that was reason enough to step in.

"Oh, look at this!" the leader of the bullies – a boy a full head taller than he was and twice the mass – sneered as this joke of an adversary. "Lie's protecting his girlfri-"

Before he could finish that sentence, the talking pig of a kid's face was slammed into the ground.

"Don't pick on her," Ren said. His tone was even, but his eyes were sharp. He had always been quiet and reserved, but even he had a limit to his patience.

The other bullies were retreating. Despite his size, Ren had managed to knock out their leader in one swift movement. They knew that Ren was a bookworm who could not fight, which only made his sudden strength all the more baffling. What they did not know, however, was that they were responsible for that change; their excessive bullying made him learn to fight just to defend her.

"You wanna fight, Lie?" the ringleader picked himself up, scowling as he wiped the dirt off his face. "You want a pummeling, is that it?"

"You don't lay a single finger on Nora," Ren threatened, keeping calm despite the incoming group now reassured with their leader's revival. There were more than enough of them to not only make him regret those words, but probably break a few bones too. The youngest of them was seven, and the smallest was already Ren's size. Young as he was, Ren was not stupid enough to believe that he had a chance.

"Let's teach him a lesson," the ringleader said menacingly, and despite the level of cliché in his line it turned out strangely threatening.

"Stay back, Nora," Ren muttered, as Nora cowered behind him, tears in her eyes. Turning back to the bullies, he managed a fearless smirk. "I'm going to break their legs."

-

He groaned. It was hard to see out of his left eye, which felt unnaturally puffy. Wherever they punched and kicked felt so sore he almost thought it was not his body he was feeling.

"Are you okay, Ren?" Nora asked, her expression clouded with worry.

"Yep," Ren replied with a lopsided grin, hoping that it would be reassuring enough; that frowning look did not suit Nora. "Don't make that face, Nora."

"Why did you have to be so reckless?" she asked, half scolding him. "There were so many of them! It's like trying to fight a horde of Ursi with your bare hands!"

"I heard there are people out there who ride Ursi," Ren replied cheekily, offering her one of his rare smiles. It was only a small one, but Nora would not mind. She never did.

"Those people are insane, then!" Nora exclaimed, dabbing at his bruises with a handkerchief. "You're supposed to be smart!"

"That's why I don't play where the bullies hang out," Ren reasoned. Nora pouted.

"They…" she muttered, sniffling. "They were making fun of you for liking books, so I was trying to get them to stop…"

"You should just ignore them," Ren said dismissively. "They're right, after all."

In truth, he did not particularly enjoy studying. He would have, like any other kid, wanted to be out in the streets playing and having fun. However, Ren knew that if he did not work hard, he would not have the results to go wherever Nora went.

He had not understood what a prodigy was, until Nora proved that she was one; even without much effort, Nora was better than most of her peers. Besides the fact that she was a gentle girl who would just keep quiet and let the bullies have their way with her, she was a perfect girl with near-perfect grades.

Ren, however, was normal. Sure, he might have learned some martial arts at a young age to protect her, but he was still average. He thought that with enough effort, he would be able to catch up to her. That way, they would be able to stay together. That way, he could continue to look out for her. That way, he could protect her forever.

"Don't make that face, Nora," he said. "You look better smiling."

Back when they were six, Nora was the quiet one, and Ren was the more boisterous of them both. After years spent putting in colossal amount of hard work, Ren had managed to stand by her side as they attended Beacon. Even though he had achieved that, he now found it difficult to return to when they were children; he no longer had that energy, and more often than not kept to himself. Nora, however, seemed to have found a source of energy that refused to run dry.

But if there was something that did not change, it would be his feelings for her. With a fierce determination despite his usually cool demeanor, he would continue to protect the woman known as Nora Valkyrie. That had always been, and always would be, the sole motivation of the Huntsman named Lie Ren.

-

"Wake up, lazy bud!"

Groaning at the unwelcome awakening, Ren groggily opened his eyes. Jaune and Pyrrha were nowhere to be seen as he sat up, which meant that Nora had been kind enough to give him some extra minutes to sleep in.

"We have combat classes today!" Nora declared, speaking quickly like she did every other morning. "So I was wondering, like, because you're the perfect student and I'm me, we'd surely be able to dominate the competition, right?"

Ren continued to listen without making any comments, as he brushed his teeth and headed downstairs for breakfast.

"Of course, it's usually a one-on-one," Nora went on, demolishing her breakfast as she struggled to talk with her mouth full. "But you know, if we get to battle as a pair, wouldn't that be an instant victory?"

As he checked the condition of his weapons before tucking them into the sleeves of his clothes, Ren's expression remained the same as he wondered how he should reply.

"But then again, that would just be plain bullying, right?" Nora wondered aloud, her talking pace still incredibly fast. "I mean, what would we do if they decided to move us up a grade simply because of how awesome we were? I'd feel bad for Jaune and Pyrrha, but if that's the way it goes, that's how it is, right?"

"Nora," Ren said at last.

"Yes, Ren?" Nora asked, looking and sounding excited as usual.

"I'm still not going to let you get involved," Ren finished with a deadpan tone.

He was referring to Sapphire's request, and naturally Nora knew that. However, the sudden refusal seemingly out of nowhere made her pause for a few moments.

"W-what are you talking about?" Nora asked hastily, managing a nervous grin. "I-I didn't have that intention at all!"

Ren sighed. Today was going to be another long day.

-

"Winner: Pyrrha Nikos!"

As the students cheered, the still undefeated ace of team JNPR reached out and helped Weiss get on her feet.

"You've gotten better, Weiss," she complimented.

"Thanks," Weiss replied, somewhat halfheartedly. "You too."

Keeping a friendly (albeit forced) smile on her face, Weiss exited the arena, leaving Pyrrha to be bathed in the standing ovation that celebrated her overwhelming victory.

She intended to head for the seats where her teammates were, but the heiress only managed a few steps before her feet refused to walk any further. No one would see her now that she was out of the spotlight and in the dimly lit hallways, but she still tried to hold in her frustration.

She lost again. No matter how many times they sparred, Weiss still could not defeat Pyrrha. She knew very well that she was weaker, but she had put in so much effort in order to bridge that gap. She had put in far more time to train herself than anyone else, so why was it that she was still so pathetic?

She hated being this weak. She despised her own incompetence. But above all, she was just so jealous. She could not do anything besides watch as other people – regular people, no less – achieve what she could not, and have what she never would. Why did she have to be an elite, yet so powerless, while the regular people were so special?

Instead of heading back to where her team was, Weiss trudged back to her dorm. She already had one match, and that was enough to prevent being called out again. There was no need to watch Pyrrha wipe the floor with more people; it would just make her feel even more inferior by comparison. She considered asking for help from her teammates later, but that idea was shot down the moment it surfaced; she was a Schnee, after all. There was no way she could depend on other people.

Except, perhaps, for him.

"N-Neptune," she called out, halting the blue-haired teen in his tracks as he sipped from the can he got out of the vending machine.

"Oh, hey Weiss," Neptune replied, looking cool as usual. Weiss could swear she saw his teeth sparkle in the sunlight. "Classes over?"

"Yeah," Weiss said. "W-where have you been? I didn't see you there."

"Eh, didn't feel like it," he replied, shrugging. "So I didn't go. Sun and the others will cover for me."

If there was someone she could possibly rely on, it would be him. Neptune had enough confidence to treat combat classes so lightly – an observation backed by how perfect he looked every day. If it was him, he could surely help Weiss overcome her mediocrity.

"Hey, Neptune," she began hesitantly. "I-I was wondering… Could you possibly… Um… That is, would you be interested in training with me?"

"Training?" Neptune asked. "Sorry; I don't think I'm really that qualified. Why don't you ask someone else?"

Weiss was about to say something else, but was interrupted by a sudden ringing of Neptune's phone. He answered the call hastily, muttering something here and there.

"Sorry about that," he said, hanging up. "Gotta go. Talk to you some other time, Weiss!"

Before she could call him back, Neptune had already run off. Weiss sighed in defeat, letting her shoulders droop in an undignified way. She had not expected him to agree, even though she had really wished that he would.

Since she had no choice, Weiss decided to settle for Sapphire, who despite his lack of manners was an ex-mercenary. Just as she fished for her phone, she remembered with a groan that she did not have his number. To make matters worse, Sapphire had left the island earlier in the morning to get his boots' maintenance done somewhere – a detail that only just came back to her.

"Why must all this happen to me?" she wondered aloud.

-

"Victory~!" Nora yelled, as the student whose name she did not even know staggered off the stage. Pyrrha had already fought her share, and now it was up to her to keep up the winning streak. "Can I have another, please?"

"Well, we do have some time," Glynda informed her. "It should be fine for you to have another match. Would you like to pick an opponent?"

"Yep!" Nora declared happily, searching the crowd for her foe. It did not take her long. "There! That guy!"

Glynda gave her a strange look, arching an eyebrow to emphasize her confusion. The crowd went quiet for a few seconds, before the whispers and murmurs started up.

"Very well," Glynda agreed in the end. "Just as you have heard, Mr. Lie. Please come down to the stage."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> About the backstory… Yeah, my speculation as a fan. Please, put that pitchfork down.
> 
> Whew. A-About how Ren and Nora came to switch their personalities, I'm gonna go into that while moving through Weiss's challenges in Weiss's arc, so do bear with me.
> 
> Until next chapter, then!


	9. Stepping Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There comes a time when all men must step down... From the friendzone, amongst other things.

Ruby Rose was a weapons maniac. Anyone who was unfortunate enough to carry a weapon around her was certain to, at some point in time, get a hearty dose of her squealing and (as Yang called it) ‘fan-girling’. It went without saying that should there ever be a situation where said weapons are put to practical use before her eyes, she would all but cheer elatedly. Now, however, even with Nora’s Magnhild and Ren’s StormFlower about to clash in front of her, what occupied the young girl’s mind instead was her white-haired teammate.

“Ooh, this looks juicy,” Yang commented, a huge grin on her face. “Never thought Nora would challenge Ren.”

“What’s wrong, Ruby?” Blake asked, easily picking up on her team leader’s unease; Ruby was not only a bad liar, but she was also a child who wore her heart on her sleeve. 

“Weiss hasn’t come back yet,” Ruby replied, worry clearly etched on her face. “You think maybe she’s upset about losing to Pyrrha?”

“Come on; it was just class!” Yang said dismissively. “Although, it’s Weiss we’re talking about, so…”

“I’m gonna go look for her,” Ruby said, standing up. The battle in front of her hardly even seemed interesting right now. Why was everyone so interested in this instead of being concerned about Weiss?

“I’ll go with you,” Blake offered. 

“Thanks,” Ruby offered her a smile sweet enough to cause diabetes (or at least, that was how Yang put it, and Blake tended to agree). “I’ll go search the dorm area, so could you check the showers?”

“Got it,” Blake replied, nodding; Ruby could cover a greater distance faster with her Semblance after all.

“And Yang,” Ruby added, turning to her sister. “Could you stay here in case Weiss comes back?”

“Sure thing,” Yang replied readily; she was already turning back to watch the fight. “Have fun~”

Blake sighed before landing a chop onto her partner’s head.

-

Ren took his time to walk up to face his opponent, massaging his temple. Today was going to be a long day indeed.

“Are you sure about this, Nora?” he asked.

“Yep!” Nora replied heartily, twirling Magnhild around like a cheerleader’s baton. “Ever ready!”

“Fine,” Ren sighed, bringing out StormFlower with a flick of his wrists. He knew there was no convincing Nora otherwise.

“Begin!” Glynda declared.

With a deafening explosion, Nora launched herself into the air and brought down her hammer on Ren. He rolled out of the way despite being rattled by the shockwaves of the explosion, before closing the distance with a swift, powerful leap.

Nora swung her hammer right into the path of Ren’s movement, only for him to use it as a platform to jump into the air and over her head. While in mid-air, he let loose a flurry of shots at Magnhild. 

He refused to aim at Nora out of refusal to hurt her, even with her Aura up. However, the result of that was a failed attempt to disarm her, and a swift counterattack with the war hammer right into his face. He managed to bring up StormFlower to block the attack, but the forceful impact still sent him flying.

Using the blades to dig into the ground as makeshift brakes, Ren prevented himself from being knocked out of the arena by carving two deep marks onto the floor. Nora was not just playing around, and he could tell; she had never used such strength on him before.

She was serious. To her, this battle was more than just part of the curriculum. She was genuinely trying to defeat Ren, and was not going to pull any punches. In Nora’s own way, she was also telling him to fight back with all that he had. So he obliged. 

Firing a barrage of shots at Nora’s feet to throw her off balance, Ren dashed forward. Throwing the weapon in his left hand, he managed to get even closer while Nora swatted the twirling blade up into the air.

With a sharp ‘clang’, their weapons met, with both sides held at a deadlock attempting to push the other back. Without looking, Ren reached out and grabbed his flung weapon as it fell, pointed it at Nora, and (with much hesitation) opened fire.

Nora leapt backwards, moving with the flow of the force and pulling herself from the gunfire. Using the head of her hammer to deflect the bullets, she did a cartwheel to the side to avoid the rest of the spray of bullets. She did not stop to check her Aura levels on her Scroll, but she knew very well that protecting herself from that many bullets would definitely have taken away a large chunk of it. Smashing her hammer onto the floor, she fired off another grenade upon impact, sending up a large cloud of smoke and debris.

Shielding his face with his arms, Ren withstood the shockwave from the explosion. In that position, he braced himself for impact from above, using StormFlower as a shield. In the next instant, however, a burst of light and sound erupted in front of him, knocking him back. 

Recovering from the surprise grenade fired straight from the smoke, Ren hastily regained his composure and focused on Nora, who had launched herself out of her now useless cover with another explosion. Left without enough time to dodge sideways, he flung Stormflower up into the air and stopped her brute charge with his palms.

He could not believe what he was seeing. He knew that Nora was gifted at combat, but he had not expected that she would be able to outsmart him. He believed that he would be able to predict any move she made, and that he would be able to win even while holding back out of concern for her safety. He had not anticipated that she would be able to push him into a corner.

Bringing up his palms in a swift, flowing motion, Ren attempted to send Nora and her weapon flying. Nora, with a cheeky grin, jumped off the hammer just as Ren got into motion, using the force of his counter to add to the momentum of her swing. In one fluid circular spin, accelerated by Ren, Magnhild slammed into his chin and sent him shooting towards the ceiling. Ren managed to grab his weapons in mid-air, but instead of counter-attacking as he would have normally done, he did nothing; that last attack had definitely settled the match.

“That’s enough!” Glynda declared, looking up from her Scroll, where it displayed Ren’s Aura levels going into the red zone. “Winner: Nora Valkyrie!”

Landing on his feet with as much finesse as a loser could, Ren dusted himself off as he kept StormFlower inside his sleeves. He refused to make eye contact as Nora approached him, which prevented him from seeing one of her rare serious faces. The crowd, not paying much attention, was clapping politely with a few cheers here and there (most sounded like Yang, however).

“How’d I do?” she asked.

“You did great, Nora,” Ren replied, meaning more than he meant. “I didn’t expect you to have improved that much.”

“Well, I got it from you!” Nora replied cheekily, scratching the back of her head as she laughed. “I figured if you were working so hard I’d join you! Next time I’ll show you what I can do without holding back!”

“You were holding back?” Ren asked, looking up hesitantly. He had such a hard time facing her, but she was still going easy on him?

“Well, yeah,” Nora replied, as though it was obvious. “I mean, you were holding back the whole time, so it’s only fair!”

“Your holding back was pretty merciless,” Ren muttered, making an attempt at a joke. It pretty much fell flat. “My chin may never recover.”

“At least I didn’t break your legs,” Nora offered. “Hey… Ren.”

Ren did not reply. He was worried about the change in her tone. He could already guess what she was going to say.

“You remember how you used to be the boisterous one back when we were kids?” Nora asked, surprising him; it was not the sentence he thought she would say. “Back then, I was quiet and kept to myself.”

“Yeah,” Ren replied, slouching a little; the fatigue from using his Aura was starting to take its toll. “As I recall, you were bullied a lot for it.”

“Yeah, and you stepped in to save me every time,” Nora said, blushing a light shade of pink. “So I thought I’d work hard so I wouldn’t be in your way all the time… Since you were always protecting me, I wanted to you know… reduce your burden and… you know… maybe protect you sometimes. So I learned from you and gained a bundle of boundless energy.”

Ren looked at her, bewildered. He had poured most of his life into studies and training to be with Nora, to protect her. He had not ignored her all this time, either, so how had he missed this? If Nora felt that way, surely he would have noticed. But then again, he did not even notice when she had become the bubbly girl she was now. He had not even realized when he had become a silent bookworm until that identity was ingrained in him. He did not pick up on their changes – changes which transformed them into stark contrasts of themselves when they were young. Changes which effectively turned them into each other.

How did they come to this? 

Two people, standing on opposite sides, walked towards the same direction, the same goal. With each other in their eyes, they had somehow crossed each other and stood on the other side. Now, still carrying the same goals, they looked across at each other, still standing as polar opposites, not even realizing that they had swapped places.

Or perhaps, only Ren had not noticed it. For what reason had he worked so hard, if she was now capable of doing what he wanted to do? If he was no longer needed to protect her, what would he do?

“I’m capable of looking out for myself now,” Nora said, her voice soft. “So you can take a small break, Ren. I still want you to protect me, but I also want you to trust me. I want you to look at me for who I am, not who I used to be. I… er… this is kinda embarrassing to say, but I kinda want us to be in a proper relationship where we both look out for each other, you know?”

For the first time in what felt like centuries, Ren looked into her eyes. While he could see her determination and embarrassment, he could also still see a hint of her old self in there; he could still see a shadow of her fear and timidity.

“Pleeease?” Nora pleaded, offering a wide, toothy grin.

“And if I say no?” Ren asked, sighing. He did have traces of a smile on his face, though – a detail that would never escape Nora’s keen eyes. After all, she had been constantly looking at him these past few years.

“I’ll break your legs!” Nora replied with an evil, mischievous smile.

“You’ll break my legs,” Ren answered his own question at the exact same time she gave hers. “I get it. You can come along to help out. But if you get in trouble, I’m going to forfeit the mission and come get you, okay?”

“That’s my line!” Nora said happily, pulling him into a bone-crushing hug. “You’re the best, Ren!”

And without warning, she pulled him into a full-frontal kiss. Right there. In front of a crowd. In front of Pyrrha and Jaune. And Yang. And Glynda Goodwitch.

“ _Ahem,_ ” Glynda cleared her throat significantly, but no one cared; the audience pretty much erupted into a standing ovation and drowned out her exasperated comments. 

He had failed to see her for so long. As he returned the kiss with fervor he thought he had lost, Ren could not help but think that this was not that bad. From now on, it was time to catch up on the times they lost. It was time to face this woman in front of him as the energetic little Queen of the Castle she was, instead of the cowering crybaby hiding behind him all the time.

On a stage prepared by defeat, Lie Ren stepped down from the role of the protector to assume the role of Nora’s true other half.

Maybe he could give this ‘going out’ thing a try after all.

-

“Weiss?” Ruby called out, opening the door to Team RWBY’s room.

Weiss stiffened at being called, hastily wiping her eyes. She turned to Ruby, putting on her best indifferent expression.

“What?” she snapped. Ruby flinched, which made the heiress feel a little guilty. 

“Erm… You disappeared, so I was wondering where you were,” Ruby said timidly, as though she was a little kid caught with her hand in the cookie jar. “I thought you may be feeling down for losing, so…”

“Oh, please,” Weiss scoffed. “I’m _so_ beyond getting worried over a single loss. I have other things to worry about, Ruby Rose. I was just thinking to myself what a waste it was that Team JNPR couldn’t come for the concert, that’s all.”

“W-what?” Ruby asked, before her mind caught on. “Oh yeah, Jaune said something like that. You can’t really give their seats to someone else, right?”

“Of course not,” Weiss snapped. 

“Hey, Weiss,” Ruby said thoughtfully. “If you could, do you think it’s possible to invite a few other people? It doesn’t have to be VIP balcony seats, but you know…”

 _Maybe the thought of more people going would cheer her up,_ she thought.

“Who do you have in mind?” Weiss asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Well…” Ruby dragged out the pause, because her cape was red.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh. Once again, my reluctance to drag things out made the resolution quite swift. But then again, I can’t see Ren fighting all-out against Nora and vice-versa, so I guess this was somewhat fitting. 
> 
> I kept the details about their weapons minimal, partially because their full abilities are yet to be released, and partially because I wanted to keep it until when they have a reason to fight seriously. If the canon doesn’t address their capabilities by then, I’ll be going with my own speculations of what they can do then.
> 
> Oh, and if you thought this was the end of the relationship building stuff, nope it’s not. Like Jaune’ and Pyrrha’s in Chapter 9, this is meant to be a means to get things started, so I can develop them from there. Hope you’ll stay with me till then. 
> 
> And ‘because her cape was red'? Yeah I think that’s a legit reason to be dramatic when you’re giving your answer. 
> 
> Till next chapter, fellas!


	10. History

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "If you can't learn from it... you're destined to repeat it."
> 
> -Bartholomew Oobleck

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Greetings, salutations and welcome to chapter 23!
> 
> I wanted to postpone this chapter till Volume 2 Episode 9 came out, and it certainly did give me some new ideas to work with. So in appreciation, I'm bringing in DOCTOR Oobleck here.
> 
> I typed it as quickly as I could, so please don't break my legs.

Sapphire stretched contentedly as he exited the hospital. The sun was pretty bright, but he found it oddly relaxing to bask in its gentle rays. Probably because of the faint, high-pitched screeching that barely escaped the large glass doors behind him.

The checkup itself was fine save the usual warnings about how he should stop fighting, and the maintenance had gone smoothly (although he would have liked it with a little less blood). The only real problem Sapphire ended up facing was walking into some foreign guy with his nose pointed at the ceiling.

The middle-aged gentleman did not take being bumped into very kindly, and despite Sapphire's apologies he deemed it fit to make an appropriate remark. With much grace, he told Sapphire in what appeared to be his native language that the boy's family frequently and enthusiastically fornicated with livestock.

Sapphire, being the good-natured, well-mannered multilingual gentleman that he was, nodded knowingly to show that he understood every word. Then, with a cheery smile that reduced his blue eyes to slits, he daintily brought one leg right up the middle of the man's legs.

The screaming was a lot softer now that there were glass panes between them, or maybe it was because the poor man's yelling was going into ultrasonic. Either way, Sapphire was satisfied with that kick; the fact that he felt next to nothing from the impact meant that the maintenance was effective. However, because he was wearing Lifesaver, whoever took an attack from the reinforced metal on the tip of its boot was certainly not as lucky.

"Test run finished," he said to no one in particular.

"My word," an irksome voice said from behind him. "I must say that it was a stroke of good luck that you were not wearing the school uniform."

Turning reluctantly to face the demon who had tormented him since their departure from Beacon, Sapphire tried valiantly to mask his disdain.

"Although, all things considered, that kick was quite something," Peter Port said, nodding to himself. "It reminds me of the time I had to fight off a horde of vicious Grimm without any weapons. I too, relied on my limbs, including my bare hands and strong legs…"

Sapphire clenched his fists. It was going to be a long journey back.

-

Heaving a very drawn out, very loud sigh, Sapphire nearly collapsed as he opened the door to Team RWBY's room. He was already mentally worn out from thinking over Ozpin's words, and listening to Port go on and on about every single battle he had with pretty much every single kind of Grimm did not help matters. It did not even serve as a useful lesson; Sapphire had already fought just about every kind of Grimm in countless missions across Remnant. Regardless, he cleared his mind and made sure his expression was neutral before stepping into the room.

Ruby, by the expression on her face as he entered, was facing a similar problem. With a half-dead forlorn look of utter fatigue on her face, the young leader of her team looked like she was about to pass out at any time. She looked at Sapphire with pleading eyes, as though hoping he could save her, but the former mercenary was not yet suicidal enough to step in with a deadly-looking Weiss and a serious Blake at her sides. Even Yang, who was seated by the window with a book covering her face, did not seem willing to risk her life.

"Dare I ask what's going on?" Sapphire asked, closing the door behind him. His eyes fell on the stack of papers on the desk Ruby was slumped over.

"Tuition," Weiss and Blake replied at the same time, causing Ruby to groan.

"This dolt may be two years younger, but that's no excuse to fall behind on studies," Weiss reasoned, shoving another sheet in front of Ruby's face. Another groan. "So Blake and I are going to make sure she doesn't embarrass the team."

"It's a good thing I'm too old for this crap," Sapphire thought aloud, reading off a random piece of paper. "Granted, when I was your age I was fighting instead of studying, though."

"Exactly!" Ruby exclaimed, slamming her palms onto the desk enthusiastically. "That's the way a Hunter should-" she caught the look on Blake' and Weiss's faces. "W-well, you know… I thought… maybe… that is…"

The rest of her words trailed off into an inaudible mumble as she sank back to her knees, picking up another stack of papers.

"This is wrong," Sapphire suddenly pointed out, making everyone turn sharply to him. "The Cross Continental Transmit was developed by Atlas, not whatever it is you wrote. I think you even spelled it wrong regardless. Also, The Southern Massacre produced an estimate of thirty thousand dead, not twelve thousand."

"Didn't we already go through that?!" Weiss asked incredulously, snatching the paper from him. "He's right! Why are you still making those mistakes even after what we've taught you?! What actually goes through that thick skull of yours, Ruby Rose?!"

"To be fair, slapping a huge chunk of information on someone at one go isn't going to help," Sapphire reasoned, and Ruby looked at him with tears of gratitude welling up in her eyes. "She probably confused the massacre with the activists uprising two years prior to that. They were related, after all."

"Since when did you become so knowledgeable about history?" Blake asked, raising an eyebrow.

"We learned from the battles to formulate our own strategies," Sapphire replied, shrugging. In truth, most of what he learned came from Luke, who was as much as a history geek as he was a caffeine and swearing addict. He had picked up the rest out of interest, but mostly because Luke had forced him to. "I should probably mention that I was likely involved in some of the very recent conflicts that occurred in the world, too, so it's only natural I know about them."

"You're saying some serious things with a straight face, you know," Yang pointed out, putting down her book. "Say, what's that you're holding?"

"Oh, I forgot," Sapphire said, holding up the large bag in his hand. "Some delivery guy asked me to pass this to you. Well, to you and Rose."

"What is it? What is it?" Ruby asked excitedly, dashing from her confinement space by the table to Sapphire's side, eyeing the bag in anticipation. Weiss sighed.

"Good question," Sapphire replied flatly, passing it to her. "Looks like a ton of combat rations, judging from the truckload of cans in there."

"Hey, isn't this-?" Ruby emptied the bag's contents on the spot, pouring out a small mountain of what appeared to be Gentleman's Best Friend dog food along with a large cylinder.

"Careful," Sapphire said cautiously, reaching for the suspicious article. "This looks dangerous."

"I think I know what it is," Yang said, picking up the letter that had fallen out from the bag. "Yeah, it's from dad."

"Doesn't that mean it's-?" Ruby was looking more and more excited by the moment, which made Weiss edge away from the cylinder.

"It's not a bomb," Sapphire observed, holding up the cylinder. He jumped when whatever was inside it slid out and landed on the floor. "What the-"

The furry object rolled on the floor, appearing inanimate before it grew a pair of ears. Then a face emerged. And legs. And a tail.

"ZWEI~!" Ruby squealed, pouncing on the dog that had been sent via mail and cuddling with it. She completely ignored the rest of the occupants of the room, who were utterly stunned speechless (except Blake, who looked scared out of her skin).

"Is that a dog?" Sapphire asked, finally finding his voice.

"Yep," Yang replied. "And before you ask: yes, he does stuff like that."

"It's…" Weiss was shaking as she approached the furry creature, which was licking Ruby's cheeks enthusiastically. "It's… ADORABLE!"

Sapphire choked on his saliva, coughing violently as Yang patted him on the back. It took Weiss a few seconds to regain her dignified composure, but she was still tickling the animal's chin while it lay on Ruby's chest.

"Who's a good widdle doggy?" she cooed. "Who's a good widdle doggy?"

"Well, at least she's happy," Sapphire managed weakly, still wheezing a little. "I almost died from shock at that reaction."

"You're not alone," Yang replied, smiling. "I didn't figure Weiss'd be so weak against cute puppies."

"Did you not see how she reacts to your sister?" Sapphire asked.

"Good point," Yang conceded.

"You ever get told that Rose and that pup-" Sapphire began.

"Yes, a lot," Yang cut across him. "And it's cute and all, but I've unhinged jaws for less; it's kind of a big sister's privilege to be able to say stuff like that."

"Fair enough," Sapphire replied, walking up to the dog. Standing next to Weiss, he observed her expression as she looked at her team leader holding the puppy. "Hmm… It's fatal if you look at them together, huh."

"What're you talking about?" Ruby asked, completely oblivious to how Weiss looked so red in the face she might explode.

"Y-yeah, I have no idea what you're talking about," Weiss vehemently and shamelessly denied, turning away from Sapphire's accusing stare.

"So we've been told," Yang added to Sapphire's statement.

"Great minds think alike," Sapphire said.

"Foolish minds seldom differ," Weiss jabbed, still avoiding his gaze.

"Well, I'm sure you'll be able to reach a different conclusion from mine then," Sapphire challenged, grabbing Weiss's head, turning it forcefully and holding it in place so that she could only stare at Ruby. And Zwei. At Ruby holding Zwei.

"I think we've found the melting point of ice," Sapphire addressed the room at large, feeling the heat through his fingers as Weiss blushed an even deeper shade of red. Ruby looked confused beyond words as to what was happening in front of her.

"Melting point of _Weiss_ , you mean," Yang added with a smirk, giving him a hi five as Sapphire held out his palm.

"But to think you'd be able to send dogs like this," Sapphire chose a new topic, letting go of a weak-kneed Weiss. "Genius."

"Are you a dog person?" Ruby asked, still cuddling Zwei. Weiss settled for staring out the window.

"Well, yeah," Sapphire replied. "You hardly see anyone bringing a cat to a fight."

"Er…" Yang stammered. "I think we're on different pages here."

"Its small size is very useful for hiding," Sapphire commented, giving Zwei a thorough visual examination. "It'll be harder to hit a small, moving target as well. How fast can it rip out an enemy's throat?"

"What? Zwei would never do something like that!" Ruby exclaimed in horror, hugging him tightly and shielding him from Sapphire. "Zwei's a pet!"

"Person-Eating Threat?" Sapphire questioned. "Or did you mean People-Attacking Terminator?"

"She means a household pet," Yang explained, landing a chop on the back of his head. "It's a harmless animal raised by people, not an acronym for a type of weapon."

"Oh, so you eat it after domesticating it?" Sapphire asked. "That would explain the heap of canned food- Okay, maybe not," he added quickly, as he felt the tip of a rapier on the back of his neck and Crescent Rose's blade on the side.

"Don't you see how cute he is?" Ruby asked, shoving Zwei in Sapphire's face.

Sapphire was about to reply with something that would probably have made the rapier dig into his body, but fortunately he managed to spot Blake cowering in a corner, peeking out from an upper bunk. The look in his eyes shifted in an instant.

"Yeah, you may be right," he said, holding Zwei in his hands. "Hey, Blake, what do you think?"

"S-stay back!" Blake ordered, backing into the wall as Sapphire lifted Zwei high enough to be on the upper bunk.

"But don't you see how cute he is?" Sapphire asked innocently, causing Blake to jump down from the bed and subsequently onto the other upper bunk. Sapphire pursued. "Come on now; you're fine with Rose, aren't you?"

"T-that and this are two different things!" Blake denied. "K-keep it away from me!"

"But he wants to play with you!" Sapphire insisted, placing Zwei on the bed but not yet letting go of him. "Don't you feel sorry for the poor little thing?"

"S-Sapphire, I'm warning you," Blake threatened, sounding about as convincing as Ruby when she was lying. "I-if you let go of that-"

"What?" Sapphire asked. "Let go? Sure."

Sapphire was certain he was not the only one in the room who did not know Blake could squeal like that.

-

Velvet was not sure what she was seeing, but being confused by Team RWBY's shenanigans was nothing out of the ordinary.

It was not the first time she had seen Blake look peeved, but to think she could produce such a hostile aura was something entirely new. That was not mentioning the fact that Weiss looked especially angry about something as well. Their combined rage if converted into raw energy could probably fuel that new Atlesian Paladin-290 battlesuit for several years without fail.

She had also never seen Sapphire carry that much luggage around. No, scratch that; she had never seen _anyone_ carry that much luggage around.

After the fiasco yesterday (which resulted in a half-broken window, several destroyed cans of dog food and a miniature tornado), Weiss and Blake decided to have Sapphire – the main culprit for their sufferings – 'atone for his sins' by being their personal slave for a week. Being the fair and just girls that they were, they naturally offered him a choice, and Sapphire was wise enough to value his life and symbol of manhood (which was suggested for removal by Yang, who thought it would be fun to join in on making him suffer).

"You don't even need half of this stuff," Sapphire complained, sitting in on the lecture because he could not escape.

"A lady has many needs," Weiss replied loftily.

"You guys come up with really weird ideas," Sapphire groaned. "Next thing you know you'll be holding a rock concert in Beacon with the other three."

"Don't be ridiculous," Weiss snapped. "And hush, slave; the lecture's starting."

Sapphire groaned, swearing in five different languages he hoped no one else understood. The hopes were pretty much dashed when he saw Velvet cover all four of her ears.

-

"Ah, do wait," Oobleck called out as he dismissed the class. "Mr. Fall, was it? May I have a word?"

"Yes, please," Sapphire replied gratefully, much to Weiss' and Blake's annoyance. "I mean, of course, sir."

"I understand that you're a bit of a special case as a student here," Oobleck said after the last student left, leaving just the two of them. "How're you holding up, young man?"

"As well as I can be," Sapphire replied halfheartedly.

"Splendid! Most splendid!" Oobleck replied, taking a sip of coffee before rushing into Sapphire's face in a quick blur. "It's heartening to see a young man such as yourself so knowledgeable in history! Your peers should certainly learn from your example!"

 _And make you look better_ , Sapphire thought, but chose to keep it to himself.

"So, young child," Oobleck went on. "Do you want to be a Huntsman?"

"No," Sapphire replied immediately without a hint of remorse. "I'm sure you heard about it from the headmaster already, but I'm a soldier. That's all I'll ever be."

"And why would you be something like that?" Oobleck asked, his expression unreadable.

"Because I have nothing besides fighting," Sapphire replied, trying to figure out what his intention was in asking that question.

"And why is that so?" Oobleck pressed on. "Why do you have to fight? What're you fighting against?"

That made Sapphire pause and think for a few seconds, not about the man's true intentions, but about his own answer.

"The world," he replied eventually. He waited for Oobleck to prompt him, but none came so he just went on regardless. "The world is wrong, and I hate it. It took everything I ever held dear, so I fight it. That's all."

"So you wish to partake in battle without the desire to fight for justice?"

"There's no such thing as justice," Sapphire snapped. He was beginning to question his idiocy for letting himself get baited into talking, but he did not have the time for common sense right now. "Nothing in this world is right or worth defending, so I won't choose to side with anyone. Do you think protecting people from Grimm is justice? What a joke. It's not just them; humans, Faunus and Grimm are all monsters in equal measure, simply donning different guises.

"Look at history," he went on savagely. "It's filled with blood, and who were the ones who spilled it all? The Grimm aren't the worse murderers; the ones who are guilty are the very people who make up this world. The Southern Massacre, The War, Menagerie, The Faunus Rights Revolution, the creation of the White Fang and the very humans who forced them to turn it into a terrorist organization – do you see a justice in that? Do you see a justified cause to defend in mindless slaughters that rob children of their families and innocent bystanders of their lives?"

Oobleck said nothing as he put down his mug, looking at Sapphire with undivided attention.

"Do you know what you're doing?" Sapphire questioned. "You're teaching these kids. You're training more monsters to kill and destroy the world through sheer violence, all in the name of a cheap justice set upon pushing the blame to the creatures that appear mindless to you."

"Is that what you truly think?" Oobleck asked, completely unfazed by his accusations. "Because your words are empty, child; you haven't nearly enough conviction to back them up. There was nothing but sorrow on your face while you lamented, and why is that? It is because your inability to change the world has created a deeply-rooted frustration in you, and your lack of faith in it has made you an isolated, sad existence. One man can never hope to change the world, Sapphire. Mankind has made mistakes, yes, but it has also withstood the tests of time and survived to this day because we combined our strengths and fought together.

"Do you think Huntsmen and Huntresses exist just to kill monsters?" he asked. "We don't take up arms because we want to, boy. We turn our bodies into weapons and carry arms to stand on an even ground with the Grimm, because in order to fight monsters, you must possess the strength of one. We exist to protect those who cannot protect themselves, and we defend our beliefs with the sin of spilling blood. It's not a glorious job, but it keeps the light going strong. I'm sure you would have thought this at some point in time:

"'They should not have died'. It is the feeling when you look back at the scars of tragedy that makes you find the strength to protect the present and the future."

Sapphire clenched his fists. He refused to let himself believe that he agreed with Oobleck's words; after all, he did not have that right. Oobleck was a Huntsman who defended the world, while he was a mercenary who would spill an ocean of blood just for money. What similarities could they possibly have, and what consensus could they possibly reach? If anything, the only possible point they could agree on was that if they continued to live by their ideals, they would eventually clash on the battlefield.

"You may think the world is wrong," Oobleck said, taking a sip of coffee before heading for the door at a normal walking speed. "But the fact that you fight it because of that means you have your own justice to protect. Remember that, and hold on tightly to it."

As Sapphire stared at the ground, the man who had braved the sites of countless tragedies said:

"That said, having a student this well-versed and interested in history makes me happy, as a teacher, a history geek, as well as a fellow Huntsman."

When the last word finally registered, Oobleck was already gone. Sapphire sighed, sitting down on the stairs as he rested his forehead on one palm.

"Huntsman, huh," he muttered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, yeah. I couldn't resist putting in Zwei. I mean, he's a main character, you know?
> 
> Sapphire's conversation with Oobleck turned out to be more serious than expected, and I didn't realize how much focus I was putting into it until after I finished it. Well, with this and Ozpin's words, I guess it's safe to let Sapphire have some time to think for now.
> 
> I certainly have not forgotten who this arc revolves around, so do rest assured about that. Till next chapter, my dear readers!


	11. Preparations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the title suggests: it's time for preparations.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 24 is here!
> 
> And like the title suggests, this is the preparation stage. You probably know this already, but the finale of this arc takes place at the concert itself. Big problems to be solved before then; let's see if they make it in time.
> 
> Special thanks to a reader from FF.net – the kindhearted soul who wanted to see Sapphire burn in the pits of eternal suffering – for the idea at the end of the chapter!

She shivered. She told herself that it was the cold, but the night was not forgiving enough to grant her that reprieve. She had no idea why she was so bothered by it, but his refusal weighed heavily on her chest.

Even when Jaune told her that Team JNPR could not make it, Weiss had felt a little disappointed at worst. When Neptune turned her down, however, she was not sure how to feel.

Why was she so bothered? They were not lovers or anything, so she should have no reason to feel that way. On some level, Weiss was aware that this was her first actual crush, and that she should not be so bothered simply because he did not reciprocate her feelings. So why was she so worried regardless?

She knew he was different. He was definitely special. He was someone much stronger than she was, and he always looked so confident. He was what she wanted to be. If anything, he was one of the few people Weiss both admired and envied in equal measure.

But he had no interest in her. She may have been a Schnee – a supposed elite – but she was mediocre. Why on Remnant would someone like Neptune even bother with someone subpar who could not hope to be at the level he was at? The only people he would possibly were someone like Pyrrha. Heck, even Ruby, Yang and Blake would make better choices; even they possessed qualities far beyond Weiss's – qualities she could never hope to have.

Shaking her head to rid those time-wasting thoughts, no matter how truthful they were, Weiss got to her feet, facing the familiar dimly-lit lecture hall again.

With shaky lips, the fragile Ice Princess began to sing.

-

"Weiss?"

She could hear someone's voice in the distance, but could not tell who it was with her eyes closed. The mysterious voice felt blurry, as though it came from a radio that someone was constantly altering the volume, from loud to soft and back to loud.

"Why—i-i-eiss?" It was really odd listening to someone call out her name like that. She wondered if the dolt knew how to say her name properly at all. Wait; why did she use the word 'dolt'? That word was reserved for a particular buffoon on her team.

"Wai-i-ice!" that voice was starting to get on her nerves. Not only did the owner of that mellow voice drag out her name, she had decided to make fun of it. As soon as Weiss decided to open her eyes, Myrtenaster was going to suddenly malfunction and most tragically impale someone without her knowledge. Her holding it would be sheer coincidence then.

Satisfied with her perfect crime, Weiss Schnee opened her eyes reluctantly to look at the foolish woman who would be drawing her last breaths.

She had beautiful silver eyes. It would be a shame to stab through those eyeballs, so maybe she should settle for her forehead – that huge forehead that looked like it was asking to be flicked by Weiss's finger. Maybe she should stab the chest instead. Yes, the chest would be a good place to start; it was far too big, or maybe it was just Weiss's that were too sm-

No, that was not it. That could not be it. Weiss told herself to focus; this was a woman who had insulted her name. She deserved no pity, and should be eliminated.

"You're finally awake!" Ruby exclaimed happily. Weiss groaned. Those puppy dog eyes should be illegal.

"How long was I out?" Weiss mumbled.

"About half an hour," Blake replied. "You slept through the thrilling conclusion of Professor Port's epic tale."

"Well, you're not the only one," Yang added, tilting her head towards where Jaune was sprawled over the desk, snoring away while Pyrrha watched with a slight smile on her face.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" Weiss grumbled, packing up her things.

"You just looked so comfortable sleeping, so we didn't…" Ruby's voice trailed off at Weiss's glare. "And you looked… so we…"

"She wanted to say she didn't want to wake you because you looked so exhausted lately," Sapphire translated.

"Why are you here?" Weiss snapped at the former mercenary.

"Well _excuse_ me, princess," Sapphire replied. "You and Blake were the ones who made me carry your sh-"

"Are you sure you're alright, Weiss?" Blake asked. "You look even worse than I did when I… you know…"

"Don't worry, Blake," Weiss assured her. She had seen Blake when the Faunus refused to rest in her search for Torchwick at first, and if she looked worse right now, she must really be a mess. "I won't tire myself out."

"Such convincing words," Sapphire said sarcastically. "Do we need to have the flashing talk again?"

"No, we don't," Weiss replied resolutely, before spotting the weird looks her teammates were giving her. "It's not what you're thinking, you perverted trio!"

"I would like to object, Weiss," Blake spoke up. "I don't want to be put up there with Yang when it comes to being perverse."

"Hey!" Yang protested. "At least I don't read a book called 'Ninjas in'- mmph!"

"Well, at least snowflake's still got her bite," Sapphire commented as Yang fought hard against Blake's iron claw and its grip over her mouth. "Let's leave before Valkyrie fires that grenade."

"Good call," Ruby agreed, dashing for the door just as Nora stood over Jaune, Magnhild at the ready.

-

"You sure you're alright, Weiss?" Ruby asked for the umpteenth time.

"Yes, I'm fine, Ruby," Weiss replied exasperatedly. "If you ask again, I'm going to flick your forehead."

"When will you be back?" Yang asked while her sister cowered behind her.

"If it all goes smoothly, by nine or ten tonight," Weiss answered with a hint of annoyance. "Luckily the concert hall is quite near Beacon; otherwise the journey would be unbearable."

"Figures the lead performer is the one checking to make sure everything's ready," Sapphire wondered aloud. "Winter needs to sort out the priorities properly."

"My sister knows what she's doing just fine," Weiss defended. "I have to do this; it's the only way to make sure everything is flawless."

"Take care, Weiss," Blake said. "I'll sort through the notes you'll need in the meantime."

"Thanks, Blake," Weiss replied with a smile. "Glad to know there's someone besides me who values education."

Smirking at the guilty looks on Ruby' and Yang's faces, the white-haired heiress boarded the helicopter.

-

Sapphire sat alone in the cafeteria, staring holes into the concert's brochure. He was still waiting for Team JNPR's reply, and his plans had to change depending on how many people he had with him. His training had been pointless thus far as well; whenever he thought about actually killing Mercury, his resolve wavered, and Ozpin' and Oobleck's words certainly did nothing to help him either.

"Saph!"

Looking up from the useless piece of paper, Sapphire stared as a debris-covered Team JNPR approached him. Unsurprisingly, Nora was the only one who seemed happy about it.

"We were looking for you," Jaune said, still trying to brush some dust off his clothes. "Ren and Nora have an announcement to make."

"Underage marriage," Sapphire muttered under his breath. He caught a glimpse of Pyrrha stifling a laugh out of the corner of his eyes.

"We're all coming with you," Ren stated plainly. "All four members of Team JNPR will lend you our strength. But I have one condition," he added, just as Sapphire was about to reply. "My priority is Nora's safety. If I deem it necessary, I may even abandon the mission to protect her."

"That goes double for me!" Nora chipped in, glomping Ren like he was a giant plushy. "If you disagree, I'll break your legs!"

"That's fine," Sapphire sighed. "Your duties are largely just patrolling about anyway. But now that we're all confirmed aboard, we can get down to business."

"Right!" Jaune said enthusiastically, looking excited for a few seconds before becoming confused. "So, uh… What do we do?"

"For the time being, nothing," Sapphire replied anticlimactically. "We'll discuss the finer details when I'm… when I'm ready with some of my preparations. For now, you guys just focus on training; you're going to need it if the situation gets hairy."

"Wait; you have no plan?" Jaune asked incredulously.

"I believe I've already filled you guys in on the plan the last time," Sapphire reminded him. "For now, just shut up and leave me be."

"Hey, wai-" Jaune called out, but Sapphire had already left.

-

Jaune was not one for breaking school rules, but he figured since he was looking for Sapphire, it was justified. At least, he hoped it would be.

"What're you doing?" Sapphire's voice called out from behind him. "I thought the Emerald Forest was off-limits to students outside of class."

"How'd you-?" Jaune began.

"I put some simple sensors here and there," Sapphire replied. "I'm not stupid enough to break in here and not be prepared for unexpected visitors. Didn't expect it to be you, though."

"I have a favor to ask," Jaune said, immediately getting to the point; he could sense that Sapphire was going to ask why he was not with his girlfriend, and with his previous experiences he knew Sapphire was very skilled with derailing a conversation. "I want you to train me."

"I'm going to Forever Fall next time," Sapphire groaned under his breath before addressing Jaune again. "Didn't you say you trained with your girlfriend on the roof at night?"

"Yeah, but Pyrrha's been busy lately," Jaune replied. "She's got a bunch of extra credit stuff for Goodwitch and Peach, so I didn't want to bother her so much if I could. I figured since you didn't attend classes… Er, well, you know."

"Fine," Sapphire relented. "I'm the one who asked you to take part in this mission after all. I owe you that much. Draw your weapon and come at me."

"Alright!" Jaune said, unsheathing his sword and kicking off the ground hard.

-

Jaune Arc was a man familiar with defeat. He had lost to Cardin a few times, to Pyrrha more times than he could count, and now to Sapphire. It did not do wonders for his pride as he lay on the floor panting and aching.

"Okay, lesson time," Sapphire announced, throwing him a bottle of water and sitting down next to him. "I don't know if anyone told you this before, but you're too aggressive; you put too much focus in attacking without thinking about defense."

"Y-yeah, I think Pyrrha mentioned that before," Jaune replied.

"You rely too much on your arm strength," Sapphire continued. "It's not practical since your weapon is a shield and sword; you're going to be wielding the sword with one hand most of the time. If you forget about your shield, you're going to lose against anyone who uses a two-handed weapon like that jackass Winchester. Actually, scratch that; you'll lose to anyone who's familiar with how to use their own weapon."

"What do I do?" Jaune asked. "Pyrrha and I have worked on my technique but…"

"Yeah I can see that," Sapphire said. "That's not bad, but you need to pay attention to what advantages and disadvantages your weapon of choice has."

"My Crocea Mors?" Jaune asked. Sapphire nodded.

"One-handed swords, no matter how durable, are light," he said. He had gone through this thought process a lot as a weapons nut more than as a mercenary after all. "That means you'll never match two-handed weapons in strength, but you can make up for it with speed. However, because you only have one sword, you'll be a lot slower in attacking than dual-wielders like Blake and me. That being said, you still have a degree of flexibility from using one hand. Now you just need to factor in the shield and turn it into an offensive barrier instead of a purely defensive wall."

"How do you do that?" Jaune asked, getting to his feet as Sapphire took his shield.

"You learn to bide your time," Sapphire answered. "Instead of attacking blindly, know how to use this as more than a plate of metal supporting your arm. Strike me."

Jaune obeyed, lifting his sword and bringing it down as hard as he could. The moment his blade made contact with it, the large shield suddenly rushed forward and pushed him back, disarming him and forcing him onto his rear.

"When your enemy attacks your shield, use your body weight and push them back," Sapphire said, pulling the natural blonde to his feet. "Usually enemies with two-handed weapons will try to hold the position and overpower you, so you can just push them back. If you bend your knees and push your shield upwards from a lower position, it'll be better though not required. But if it's a single hit and your enemy pulls away, you need to predict when the attack will land and time your thrust with that. Practice it with Nikos."

It was a peculiar feeling for Jaune as he listened to Sapphire talk about fighting techniques. It was like listening to a lecture, but it was one that he could actually follow properly. It was also rather surprising to see Sapphire talk so enthusiastically.

"But what if I can't push them back?" Jaune asked. He had a vague feeling this was what he would be like in class if he actually revised more beforehand.

"That's when the side-step comes in," Sapphire explained. "If your opponent is bringing down their weapon from above, you can move to the side like this, and then turn your shield to the side. It'll make your opponent's attack slide down the flat side of your shield. The more force your opponent uses, the more it'll throw off their balance with their own momentum and they'll fall forward spectacularly. Practice this: turning your whole body in an anti-clockwise manner, using your shield to deflect attacks to the left while you stab the sword in your right hand towards your left. It should catch them in the chest or mid-section."

"Er… Okay," Jaune managed, nodding slowly.

"You look confused," Sapphire commented.

"No, I'm fine," Jaune insisted. "I just didn't expect so much… words."

"What did you expect theory to be like?" Sapphire asked. "Or did you prefer if I literally carve the lesson into your body? Because unless Nikos has a thing for scars-"

"Okay, okay I get the point," Jaune said hastily. "Thanks for your help."

"You need something else?" Sapphire asked, when Jaune stayed where he was.

"Actually, I wanted to ask," Jaune admitted. "What's up? You seemed kinda irritable today."

"Don't I always?" Sapphire asked, shrugging.

"Ah, um," Jaune said awkwardly, catching on. "I don't mean to pry, y'know…"

A very lengthy silence followed, with neither men saying anything or moving. Jaune seemed nervous, while Sapphire just looked bored.

"Ah, well," the black-haired one broke the silence first. "I've got a question for you, Arc."

"It's Jaune," Jaune corrected. "Short, sweet, rolls off the-"

"Yeah, I get it," Sapphire cut him off. Being corrected once by the Amazon was already enough. "Anyway, back to the question: when in battle, who would you look out for the most in your team?"

Jaune took a few moments to process that, and another few seconds to stare blankly at Sapphire. The former mercenary was just about to tell him to forget it when the blonde finally spoke up.

"Myself, I guess," he said. "I mean, it's only logical, right?"

"And why is that?" Sapphire asked. He was sure Jaune's reply was going to be Pyrrha.

"Because if I don't, how will I protect my friends?" Jaune asked in return. "I-I mean, I love Pyrrha, and I'd give my life to protect her, Nora and Ren, but if I don't take care of myself first that'll just mean they would be burdened with that responsibility instead right?"

Sapphire did not speak. Jaune, the supposed incompetent fighter who was surrounded by close friends – much like how Sapphire used to be – managed to derive the answer that Ozpin had spoken of: to see oneself before they could protect others. He had reached it with such ease, but Sapphire had not even come close to it despite being much stronger.

"I know I'm weak," Jaune admitted, looking a little depressed. "But that's why I have to look out for myself so they won't have to risk their lives protecting me. It's the natural thing to do for your friends, right?"

Sapphire smiled. It was a natural thing to Jaune, but it was by no means the natural thing to him. If he had not chosen the path of a mercenary, would he have found that answer as well? Even though the answer alone did not help him strengthen his resolve, Sapphire began to understand a little of why Ozpin really wanted him here at Beacon; there were some interesting people here indeed.

"Yeah, I suppose," he replied, walking back to the school. "Now get going, Arc; I'm sure your girlfriend's waiting."

-

He leaned against the wooden door, listening to Weiss's singing again. It was barely nine, but the heiress had already returned, practicing the songs she would eventually be singing at the concert.

"She said not to push too hard, princess," he muttered, shaking his head.

Distant footsteps drew his attention, and Sapphire readied his weapons as he hid in the shadows. He almost attacked the stranger, too, if not for the fact that Weiss was hopelessly attracted to him.

"What're you doing here at this hour, Vasilias?" he asked, making Neptune jump.

"I-I-er- Wait, why're YOU here?" he fired back. The fact that he controlled his voice enough to whisper told Sapphire all he needed to know, though.

"Peeping on Schnee?" Sapphire asked, tilting his head towards the lecture hall. "Weiss," he corrected hastily.

"O-of course not," Neptune replied. "I-I'm just – fine. I came here to see her practice, okay?"

"Nothing wrong with that, just creepy," Sapphire commented, turning back to the lecture hall. He neglected to comment that he was doing the same thing. "You couldn't wait till the concert, huh?"

"Uh… I'm not going to the concert," Neptune pointed out.

"What?" Sapphire spun around to stare at him. "Why not?"

"It just didn't feel right, y'know?" Neptune shrugged. "I mean, I'm cool and all, but concerts aren't really my thing."

"You turned her down because of that?" Sapphire asked incredulously.

"Yeah," Neptune replied with a nervous laugh. "Well, yeah. I mean, it's hard to look, you know?"

"No I don't," Sapphire deadpanned. "Do enlighten me."

"It's out of my league, okay?" Neptune raised his voice a little. "I try hard to look cool and all, but these high class stuff – I can't do it, alright? Weiss is able to do all those things and she's amazing, but looking at her just makes me feel so… so common, you know?"

"So you turned down her invitation and goodwill because you feel inferior when you're watching her?" Sapphire asked. "You refused to see her perform because it made you feel mediocre? Then why did you come and watch her practice?"

"Because she's dazzling," Neptune replied. Unlike Jaune, he did not go all jittery admitting things like that even though he was nervous. "She's amazing when she's practicing, and when I look at her when she's practicing, and when she's putting in all that effort, it feels as if… as if she was normal like I am."

"It's all hard work," Sapphire offered tiredly. "If you really felt that way, just be honest and tell her."

"Yeah, so I've been told," Neptune said with a wry smile. "By another blue-eyed guy, no less."

"You have no idea what those words would do for her," Sapphire said. "So go tell her honestly. It's that simple. And go to the concert, dingus; all her preparation would be for naught if the people she invites are just going to see her practice and not the real thing."

He made a mental note cursing himself for saying that when he had no intention of actually sitting through it. Oh, and he had made Team JNPR miss it too. He was glad that Neptune did not know about it.

"Yeah, I guess I should," Neptune agreed. "But not today. I still need some… mental preparation."

"Good luck," Sapphire offered him a small smile as Neptune turned to go. "And I'm sure you'll find that the actual performance will be far more stunning, too; maybe it'll give you the courage to admit things then."

"Yeah, got it. Hey, uh… Thanks," Neptune managed awkwardly. "You're a pretty cool guy, Sapphire."

"Alright, don't lie to my face," Sapphire replied, waving him goodbye.

Neptune held back a laugh. Those two blue-eyed men _were_ similar.

-

When Weiss finally returned to the dorm room, she was so exhausted she did not even notice that Sapphire was awake, and that his glowing blue eyes followed her all the way until she collapsed onto the bed. Sleep had never felt more welcome in her memory before, and it came all too swiftly.

Spotting his chance, Sapphire got up and scattered cookie crumbs all over the heiress, who was already sleeping like a log. Then, very gently, he shook Ruby's shoulders to get her somewhat awake.

"Mmph…?" Ruby mumbled, and in the dimly lit room Sapphire could tell she was still half asleep.

"Come with me, Ruby Rose," Sapphire whispered, waving a chocolate chip cookie in front of her face. Like a zombie, Ruby rose from her position and followed after the scent. "I'm Count Chocolatus, from the Planet Bisquit. I have come to take you to my world."

"Cookie…" she mumbled, climbing down and sniffing around. Sapphire guided her to the bottom bunk, where Weiss was snoozing away peacefully. "Cookie… Weiss…?"

"No, it's just a giant gingerbread cookie shaped like Weiss," Sapphire whispered, desperately hoping she would not start biting the heiress.

"Cookie Weiss…" Ruby climbed onto the bed, snuggling with Weiss. With her arms around the older girl's waist, the leader of Team RWBY soon fell asleep as well.

"She's going to rip you limb from limb when she wakes up," Blake's hushed whisper came from the other upper bunk. With Zwei around, she was forced to kick Yang off the upper bunk for her own safety.

"You're an accomplice, so you're in on this too," Sapphire reminded her. "If you want to stop me, you could always just come down."

"I'm not coming down with Zwei down there," Blake hissed.

"Zwei? You mean this cute little-"

"If you even dare to pick him up, I will strangle you with Yang's hair," Blake warned.

"Lighten up, woman," Sapphire whispered, heading to his mattress. "The snowflake could use a bit of better quality rest."

"You're a demon," Blake commented.

"No objections there," Sapphire agreed, briefly wondering how he was going to escape the murderous rampage tomorrow. Looking at the peaceful-looking girls in front of him, however, made him stop worrying about it. It, as Mercury would say, made a good picture.

 _Leave the work to us, Weiss_ he thought. _You have a flawless concert to pull off._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmm. A lot of Sapphire lately. Weiss is going to have to get moving with her preparations otherwise she's not going to make it in time for the concert. Let's see what we can do about that.
> 
> Added a little bit of Neptune in here, though I'm surprised how little of him there is right now. Oh well.
> 
> Till next chapter, folks!


	12. An Imperfect Answer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It may not have been the answer they were hoping for, and it may not have been the right one. But even so, it was his own answer.

Ozpin leaned back on his chair, staring up at the ceiling. It might have been night outside, but it hardly bothered him; one could not even see a hint of fatigue on his enigmatic expression.

Ironwood's warning still weighed on his mind despite his expression remaining stoic. Ozpin was already aware that many people were after his life, so this was not news. However, if his enemies were really sending assailants to Beacon, casualties were certainly likely to be caused.

He had washed his hands of those things, and decided to protect instead of destroy. Beacon was the first step to that salvation, and he had no intention of letting anyone hurt those children. And while he could certainly take them down by himself, there were other more pressing matters that demanded his attention.

There was one other person he had in mind who could handle this. However, Ozpin was not sure if that person was ready. If he went in like this, he would just end up getting himself killed. While considering the next move, Ozpin was interrupted by a sudden phone call. Raising an eyebrow on the caller ID that appeared on the screen, he answered Glynda Goodwitch's call.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Sapphire's gone," Glynda said hurriedly. "Miss Belladonna heard him leave not long ago but wasn't able to find him so she came to report to me-"

"He's heading for Forever Fall," Ozpin replied immediately. At such a perfect timing, there was nowhere else the former mercenary could be heading for. "Stop him, Glynda. Now."

Glynda hung up without a word. Ozpin stared at the screen of his phone for a few more moments, lost in thought. If this sudden order to assassinate Ozpin had been leaked to Ironwood on purpose, then it might have been a ploy to get Ozpin away from Beacon. The conflict between him choosing to stay at the school and risk the students' safety and choosing to leave and fight, letting them have what they wanted was probably the goal. Even if by accident, Sapphire had actually helped him make his choice. Now all he could do was to have faith that he and Glynda could handle the situation by themselves.

"What're you really after?" he muttered.

-

Weiss had the occasional habit of sleeping in. It was a bad habit that manifested particularly often whenever she spent most of the night awake. Today, however, she woke relatively early.

She thought she was dreaming at first. For one thing, there was some kind of shutter sound clicking in the background, and for another she smelled like cookies. Chocolate chip, and probably the kind they served in the school cafeteria. Though for some peculiar reason, she also smelled like roses.

There was a strange pressure around her waist, and something warm pressed against her back. It felt oddly comfortable, even though it was still incredibly strange. Brushing it off as a weird dream, Weiss tried to fall back into slumber.

"Yang, I don't think you should…" someone's voice said in the distance, hushed as though in a whisper. It sounded familiar, but Weiss's hazy mind could not process the identity.

"What; let this chance go? Never!" someone else's voice replied. This one sounded very amused. Must be a blonde. How did she come to that conclusion?

Turning around, Weiss rested on her other arm, hoping that it would somehow change her dream. That movement triggered a small moan in front of her, making Weiss half open her eyes.

Petite lips. A rather small, round face. Black hair with red streaks. Those pieces of information failed to register for a moment, but when they finally did, the heiress's face underwent a color change faster than the speed at which she rejected Jaune's confessions, which was saying a lot.

Pale. Light pink. Red. Scarlet. Magenta. Weiss was sure that at some point in time, steam was pouring out of her ears and her eyes had never been opened wider in her life, but that was not the problem here. The problem was-

"Oh boy," Yang commented, stuffing her fingers into her ears. Blake said something along the lines of 'not fair' before diving under the covers, being unable to cover all her ears with two hands.

"RUBY ROSE!" Weiss screeched, loud enough to wake the entire student population of Beacon.

-

Ruby Rose was very well versed in what the typical angry woman looked like. She was very familiar with what a _really_ angry woman looked like, having seen Yang when she lost some hair. She did not think that a person could look even madder than that, and she certainly did not expect that Weiss Schnee of all people would be directing such a look at her. Well, maybe she did.

Weiss sat on the edge of her bed, towering over a subdued Ruby who sat with her knees folded beneath her thighs. Ruby could swear that there was a literal tiger looming behind the heiress. The sight was imposing and frightening enough to make Zwei sit down next to his owner obediently without as much as a yip, waiting for Weiss to explode.

"Now then," Weiss declared, her strict tone making Ruby (and Zwei) flinch. Maybe it was a dragon that was behind her instead. "Care to explain what's going on?"

"Eh…" Ruby searched her brain desperately for an answer, but nothing came up. "I don't know… I just ended up in that position… When I realized it, you were screaming my… face off…"

"And WHY is that?" Weiss demanded. "And WHY do I smell like cookies?"

"Blake," Yang whispered to the cat Faunus who was still on the upper bunk. "Is Sapphire behind this?"

"Yeah," Blake replied. "He sprinkled the cookie crumbs on her in the middle of the night to trick Ruby."

"Why am I not surprised?" Yang whispered back, rolling her eyes. "Say, what's that you're holding?"

"He left a note," Blake replied, hastily hiding the other one as she passed Yang the first.

" _Tell Weiss she needs to lighten up a bit,_ " Yang read off the scrap in a hushed tone. " _Don't take it like it's the end of the world and relax…_ Wow, this is his idea of helping her relax? She's going to burst a blood vessel. I mean, it's genius and all, but still."

"That's why I'm not telling her yet," Blake replied.

In truth, there was another piece of paper left by Sapphire, but it was addressed to Blake specifically. Sapphire, who knew that Blake would notice him leaving, had left that message outside the door for her to find. It read:

_A mission came in. Be back by noon; help make up an excuse. I have to do this alone._

"Blake!" Weiss's voice cut sharply into her thoughts, making Blake's Faunus ears twitch in surprise. "Where's Sapphire?"

"Why do you guys keep coming to me about where he is?" Blake wondered aloud. "He… um… He said he wanted to avoid the volcano eruption, so he went to look for a bunker to hide in."

"SO IT _WAS_ HIM!" Weiss bellowed, her rage levels skyrocketing. The dragon behind her was now replaced by a gigantic four-faced deity wrapped in flames. If one looked close enough, her ice-blue eyes seemed to be flaring up as well. "I'm going to murder him."

The second sentence was spoken in a normal, conversational tone, but it made everyone else shudder nonetheless. There was something really horrifying in Weiss's voice right now.

"And of course, since you're all my lovely teammates," Weiss continued with a glorious smile, picking up a trembling Zwei (who was so scared he did not even look around for help) and stroking him gently. "You'll help me keep it a secret, right?"

Ruby, Yang and Blake gulped. No one would ever find Sapphire's body now.

-

Cinder jumped when she heard that distant yell. It had been so quiet all this time that she had to strain her senses to pick up any and all sounds. When she heard that shout from the dorms, no matter how far away it was, it startled her in the middle of her infiltration.

Embarrassed that she had been distracted by something so inconsequential, Cinder retreated into the shadows. She could not advance yet, so she had to stay hidden until the time was right.

" _Enemy engaged,_ " a voice, heavily obscured by static, reported over the earbud she had. " _Tracks were rigged to blow. Alpha team-_ "

The rest of the sentence was lost in a burst of static. The enemy he was talking about was moving fast, which was only to be expected. What was important was the fact that the two sides were fighting.

Smirking confidently, Cinder ran through the hallways silently, taking extra care to avoid the guards. Now that she was accustomed to this place, sneaking around was a breeze. Without Ozpin around, there was no one who could stop her-

"Good morning," Ozpin said loudly, standing upright in front of the elevator doors. That elevator was the only way up to his office, and Cinder was well aware of that. What she could not comprehend was why Ozpin was here; who was fighting the mercenaries in his place? "I know you're there, so why not we talk in the open?"

"You're more cautious than you look," Cinder said pleasantly, walking into the light and facing him. Naturally, she still had her espionage suit on, but this time she also had a wig. Not that she was certain it would fool someone like Ozpin, but she played his game; letting the opponent think that they had the upper hand was key to catching them off-guard.

"I'm surprised you knew I was associated with that organization," Ozpin replied casually. "I'm sure they were more than happy to be able to get money to kill me."

"Perhaps you should have greeted them personally," Cinder offered, giving him a smile.

"I might have," Ozpin admitted. "If it wasn't for both of us realizing your true intentions."

"So you sent one of your staff to their doom?" Cinder challenged. "Or perhaps one of your students?"

"He was a former subordinate," Ozpin replied. "Now, would you be so kind as to answer my questions? What might you possibly be looking for in my office, so badly that you required my sudden absence?"

"If I told you, would you give it to me?" Cinder asked with a playful smirk.

"It could be arranged," Ozpin said thoughtfully.

"Thanks," Cinder said, ducking to avoid the blow from the guard closing in on her from behind. Grabbing him by the arm and flinging him forward onto his back, she disappeared around a corner.

Ozpin waited for a few moments, until the sound of a shattering window prompted him to sigh. He doubted she had an accomplice ready in case she was spotted, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Even though that meant he would not be participating in the chase personally.

"Pursue her," he said to the guard rushing up to him, walking into the elevator.

-

Sapphire groaned. He tried getting up, but obeyed the signs his body gave him and slumped back down instead. Pain was something he had gotten used to, but every time he ended up feeling it the experience felt like something new.

He could tell someone was approaching from the rustling of the grass. Heck, it could even be a wild Grimm drawn in by the smoke from the derailed train he blew up, but he took no chances. Ignoring his body's protests, Sapphire got to his feet, firing Duskbreak at this new foe.

"I swear," Glynda said exasperatedly, flicking the arrow away with her riding crop almost lazily. "Boys like you are the reason why teaching is such a pain. And setting up so many traps on your way here was really dangerous, too; what if I didn't disarm them and a student walked into them?"

"What're you doing here?" Sapphire asked, sitting back down as he wiped the blood from his forehead that was obscuring his vision.

"What do you think?" Glynda asked. "Did you really believe we'd let you take on these many trained mercenaries by yourself?"

"As a matter of fact, I already have," Sapphire pointed out, his red eyes fading back to blue. "More than half of the idiots are trapped in the train wreckage so they sat this one out, though."

"I understand that they're from the same organization you came from," Glynda said. "But don't you think that it's too reckless to face them by yourself?"

"Well, this is clearly a trick to get the commander out of his fortress," Sapphire shrugged. "And since no one else knows the modus operandi of us mercs, I'm the only poor slob left, right?"

"We're heading back," Glynda said sharply. "You need to get treated and Lifesaver needs-"

"I didn't use it."

Glynda froze.

"You what?" she asked.

"I said I didn't use Lifesaver," Sapphire repeated. "I kept to Neutral Mode all this time."

"But- How-"

"I know I'm not an intellectual, but I have been putting thought into this," Sapphire said, lying down and staring at the periwinkle blue skies peeking through the vermillion leaves of Forever Fall. "I was told protecting others that way was a flaw, y'see. I'm not conceited enough to think I'm perfect, but I didn't really think that that itself was a personality defect. So I pondered it endlessly.

"I couldn't find the answer at first," he admitted. "I considered committing suicide a few times – don't look at me like that; I didn't actually do it – but I settled for staying alive in the end. I was weak, and I had to get strong to k- to fight. So I looked for the answer to that flaw. Do you know who let me find it?"

Glynda did not answer. She was pretty sure she knew what he was going to say, though.

"Those kids," Sapphire finished. "Those little kids pretending to be warriors, calling themselves Huntsman and Huntresses. Seeing them by no means told me I was wrong, but it showed me the right way to go about doing it. Ozpin said I only looked at others, and that was why people around me died. Even so, he didn't say it was wrong to protect others. So why don't I do just that?"

Standing up, he walked slowly past Glynda, towards the direction she had come from. Despite the pain in his body, he was smiling confidently.

"I'll still fight for them," he said. "But now, I know that it's because I want to. I've never thought about what I really wanted, but now I can say I acknowledge I want to fight for them."

He had found a purpose. Glynda knew well that a person fighting pointlessly and a person fighting with a purpose were worlds apart, and that the strength that simply came from will alone was not something that could be ignored. However, the prerequisite for protecting others was that one must defend themselves first. Sapphire might have thought that he had found his sense of self, but it was only something he established after the wellbeing of others. In the end, he still put others before himself.

"They have bright futures," he said, almost sighing as he did so. "They don't need to tread the dark paths where there's no going back. But I won't kill for that purpose, because I don't want to sink back in either. I know who I am now, Goodwitch. That's why I won't let anyone else become like me. I'm fighting selfishly because of my own experiences, because I think I know better. What of it?"

"Don't get so full of yourself, brat," Glynda scolded, although there was a faint smile on her lips. "You're nowhere near experienced enough to handle something like that."

He was not quite there yet, but Sapphire Fall had managed to take another step. For now, that was good enough. Perhaps, with time, he would be able to save his own life with the help of his friends. Glynda could not help but admit defeat at that thought; Ozpin had been right about this one.

Of course, she was never going to let him know that.

-

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Sun exclaimed as he and Neptune nearly kicked the door down. "What on Remnant's going on here?!"

Weiss squealed before diving under her covers upon seeing Neptune; she was still in her sleepwear and covered in cookie crumbs. Ruby, Yang and Blake simply stared at the surprise guests at their door.

"We heard a shout," Neptune hastily explained their barging through the door. "Sounded more like a sonic weapon, but we came to check if anything was up. Are you guys alright?"

"Oh, don't worry about it," Yang said cheerily with a wave of her hand. "I do have some pictures I'd like to show you, Neptune, so drop by later, kay?"

Neptune could feel the heat of Weiss's gaze from all the way at the door, and she was not even poking her head out from the blankets.

"Say," Sun said, looking around. "Why do I smell another Faunus in here?"

The girls had no idea how to reply to that, so they simply turned to Blake, who facepalmed. The weird spray Sapphire brought in the last time for their infiltration mission was still leaving a lingering bear scent after so long due to Sapphire's excessive dosage, but since no one else on the team noticed anything she had kept it to herself. It failed to escape Sun's nose, though.

"Smells like…" Sun's eyes widened, although whether it was from horror or hurt was uncertain. "A guy…"

"Sun, it's not-" Blake began, but she could not get off the upper bunk; Zwei was still down there.

"I heard Sapphire say something along the lines of this," he muttered in utter horror. "He said Blake was bringing in random guys into the dorm, but I didn't believe him. Holy… he was right…"

"No, it's a misunderstanding!" Blake said in a frustrated tone. "It-it's not like that!"

"Is that why you won't come down from the bunk?" Sun asked. Yang was stifling his laughter as she hid behind Ruby (who, as usual, just looked confused), but he had no time for small details like that right now. "Is it because his smell is still on you from… from…"

"No!" Blake exclaimed, going red in the face as she caught on to his train of thought. "I'm not coming down because… because Zwei-"

"Zwei?" Sun repeated. "Neptune. Do you know any bear Faunus in Beacon by that name?"

"Er, no," Neptune replied. "B-but you can try asking Scar-"

Without letting his partner finish, Sun Wukong sped off in one swift somersault.

"Well, that was awkward," Neptune commented, proceeding to clear his throat. "So, um, Weiss. You free to talk right now?"

"Y-yeah," Weiss replied, her voice muffled by the blanket which she still refused to come out of. "J-just wait outside; I'll be with you in a minute."

-

Weiss dusted at her combat skirt awkwardly, waiting for Neptune to speak. For some odd reason, the morning was growing warmer and warmer by the second.

"Hey, um, Weiss," Neptune finally said after what had to be several thousand years. "You know about your concert? Is it alright if I go after all?"

Weiss gaped at him for a few million years, not caring that her mouth was open in a perfect, comical 'O'. Fumbling with her vocabulary, the confident heiress finally managed to find her voice.

"S-sure, of course!" she stuttered. "Y-you're more than welcome to attend! Of course!"

"T-thanks," Neptune replied, letting the atmosphere sink back into the pits of awkward silence again.

"S-so what happened to your urgent business?" Weiss asked, playing with a lock of her hair.

"Ah, that," Neptune looked away guiltily. "A certain blue-eyed friend of yours talked me into making the right decision, and, well, here I am."

Of course. It was Jaune again. Like with the time at the ball, Jaune seemed to have a knack for helping Weiss with her romance. Weiss made a mental note to thank him properly later.

"And, there's something I want to say," Neptune said. "After the performance is finished, I have something important I need to tell you. I-It's kind of a big deal, s-so yeah."

"O-Of course!" Weiss said, her voice a higher pitch than expected. "I-I'll see you after the performance then?"

"Yeah, that'll be great," Neptune walked off, his face filled with relief now that the load was off his chest. "Oh, and Weiss?"

"Yeah?"

"Good luck."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, Weiss. Your problems are far from over, so don't let that get to your head. Tsk, lovestruck heiresses…
> 
> But wow, lots of smiling in this chapter. And also, yeah I wanted to do that brick joke, so if you still remember where the spray came from, good for you!
> 
> In case anyone didn't get the somersault part, it's a reference to the Sun Wukong outside of RWBY, whom Sun is based off of. He can travel 54,000 kilometers in one somersault. I'm Chinese (that explains my terrible English too), so I grew up knowing the Monkey King and stuff like that. I'm not a nerd. I think.
> 
> Whatever! I hope you're enjoying the lighthearted stuff and jokes right now, because unfortunately this arc is reaching its climax soon, and from that point onwards the mood will be more serious. Brace thyselves; we'll soon be 2/5 done with this series.
> 
> Till next chapter!


	13. Imperfection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Perfection may be the goal, but it did not mean you could not stop halfway.

"Stop."

The auditorium was soundproof, but above all it made sounds echo loudly inside it. That made his voice booming and imposing, befitting of the stern face he wore.

"Not bad," he said tonelessly as Weiss relaxed, stepping to downstage. "There's improvement, but this is not some random street performance. I hope you realize what's at stake here, yes?"

"Yes, sir," Weiss deadpanned.

"We'll continue after a ten minute break," her instructor went on, clearly displeased. "In the meantime… Lawrence! I want the lights over…"

Sighing to herself, Weiss left the stage and disappeared into the wings.

"Good work out there, Miss Schnee," one of the staff – a girl with long blonde hair tied into a ponytail – said cheerily as she passed her a paper cup filled with some gold liquid. Probably for her throat.

"Thanks," Weiss replied halfheartedly, wiping off her perspiration with a towel.

"It was really good today," the girl said cheerfully. "Everyone could tell you improved greatly since last time. What happened?"

"Is it that weird for me to improve over two days?" Weiss asked snappily before catching on to her own tone. "Sorry; I've had a bad day, that's all."

"Oh, don't worry about it!" the girl replied hastily. "I-it's not weird or anything; it's just that there was so much improvement it was impressive, so I thought maybe you had another instructor at Beacon or something."

"I just had a little bit of help," Weiss said mysteriously, turning away to hide her blush. "From a very cool guy."

"But if you don't mind me saying…" the girl began tentatively. "You still look… stressed. I mean, it's only natural, but maybe you should… relax a little more?"

"I'm fine, Mandy," Weiss replied, managing to remember the girl's name. Oddly enough, snuggling with Ruby actually let her rest up pretty well. Maybe it was because of the scent she had. "I-I'm just nervous. Just a little bit."

It could not be helped. After all, Weiss was a mediocre girl with no particular skills. If you put someone like that into a situation like this, they would have frozen and been rejected outright. The only reason why everyone else – the actual experts – was wasting time on Weiss was because she was a Schnee. There was no other candidate, and they were stuck with her. Her worthlessness was a burden to them as well.

Feeling the wave of negativity returning, Weiss immediately ducked out of sight and into the nearest restroom. She already knew she was weak; there was no need for a pathetic showcase of it in public.

Why was she getting carried away with some meagre improvement? Neptune's words did encourage her to try harder, but the results were still far from satisfactory. Why was she content with hearing such pointless words?

"Focus, Weiss," she muttered savagely to herself. "You're a Schnee. You know what you have to do."

She may not be perfect, but she still had to be miles ahead. Regardless of her actual ability, she had to live up to those ridiculous standards, because to her, those were the only standards to live by.

"You know what you have to do," she repeated.

-

"… and the squad lost her shortly after."

"No surprises there," Sapphire replied, grimacing as he tried to sit up on the bed. He was sure the infirmary's beds got harder every time he came in here. Maybe it was the head nurse's way of telling him not to come back. "She's probably more apt at fighting than I am."

"You're saying she's stronger?" Ozpin asked on the other side of the call.

"Possibly," Sapphire conceded, recalling his previous battle with the masked assailant. "If I didn't have the handicap of Lifesaver, I'd probably win, but right now, even after taking on that attack team, I can't be sure I can beat her. Not one-on-one, anyway."

"Not one-on-one?" Ozpin asked. Sapphire thought he actually heard genuine interest in the man's voice, which was supposed to be impossible.

"She's not drastically stronger than I am," Sapphire assessed. "She can generate multiple weapons from Dust, but I have a fairly large arsenal myself. If I get just one helper, I can-"

Sapphire paused. He finally understood the reason for Ozpin's mirth: he – Sapphire Fall, of all people – had just entertained the idea of accepting help in a fight.

"Alright, I get it," he mumbled, receiving an amused chuckled in reply. "No need to rub it in."

"I won't say 'I told you so'," Ozpin pointed out. Sapphire scowled. "I'll leave you to rest up. Good work, Sapphire. You have my gratitude."

He hung up without waiting for a reply, which was fine since Sapphire didn't bother saying anything anyway. The blue-eyed former mercenary sat up on his bed, staring at the ceiling fan as it rotated lazily on the spot.

He had found his own source of strength to combat Mercury, but naturally he had no means to know if that would be sufficient. Training was going to necessary, but another matter arose now that he had made progress with his own: Weiss.

The heiress was facing so many demands from her life and herself that she might as well have been carrying a literal fifty-ton weight on her back around the clock. He wanted to step in to offer some help, some advice, anything, even though it was truly none of his business. Heck, Arc' and Nikos's romance had been none of his business either, but he had interfered anyway.

Even though it had honestly been mostly a prank on his part, Sapphire's plan of making Ruby semi-attack Weiss in her sleep was not without reason. He had seen some instances where sharing a bed between people who were close actually helped with fatigue, although that had largely been between members of the opposite sex. But who knows what would happen if he dared to throw Neptune on her bed (or even worse, become insane enough to do it himself).

Weiss's concerns were probably not unfamiliar to him. Sapphire, who had spent a large part of his life resenting his own weakness, could understand her struggles to an extent. But what he could not understand was the pressure she faced from her own background.

He had not lived in luxury, so he was not familiar with the demands that came with prestige. He did not know what it meant to have to glorify oneself to fit a magnificent image, and frankly, he found the idea ludicrous. It might have been because he had spent most of his life in the shadows, doing nothing but killing and stealing, but he found no reason to improve oneself simply because they had to look perfect. After all, no one bothered looking cool just so their mercenary group could be viewed as rock stars or something.

Yet, Weiss was burdened by that. She was compelled to be better, to be the best, to be exceptional. To her, failure was not an option, much like how a single failure meant death for mercenaries. But why did she have to go so far for something that should not be equivalent in value to her life?

"Mister Fall, you have a visitor," the head nurse said, with a rather fearful tone in her voice. Sapphire briefly wondered who could have possibly-

"Why, hello, my good schoolmate," Weiss greeted with the widest smile he had ever seen. "I heard you were in here so I decided to pay you a visit."

"Er…" Sapphire stammered. There was something very sinister in that smile, and he had half a mind to dive out the window right now. "Now, y'see, Schnee, I-"

"My, my, this certainly won't do," Weiss said in an extremely friendly manner. "I do believe that I have requested most nicely that you call me 'Weiss', have I not?"

"Y-yes you have," Sapphire replied meekly. "Okay, my bad. Um, Weiss, I did not mean for that to happen, but-"

"What on Remnant do you possibly mean?" Weiss asked, her eyes merely slits because of how widely she was smiling. "I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about."

"N-now look here," Sapphire reasoned. "I-I'm a patient, and I'm injured, so-"

"So you can't run away."

"Yes," Sapphire conceded. "B-but it also means… Wait, what's that you're holding? Is that salt? Hold on, Weiss, my wounds are-"

The head nurse had her earplugs stuffed into her ears for good measure, which was a stroke of good luck given the following scream.

-

"Son of a…" Sapphire panted, sweating buckets as he lay defeated on his bed. A rather satisfied Weiss sat beside him, meticulously tending to her nails. "That was cruel, Weiss. That was absolutely inhuman."

"At least I treated them afterwards," Weiss reasoned. "You should be grateful."

"Yeah, I'm glad you leave me with a body after setting my nerves on fire," Sapphire replied sarcastically. "Okay, I'm sorry! Keep that packet!"

Relaxing again, Sapphire kept his gaze at the ceiling as he shifted gears.

"So are you feeling any better?" he asked.

"Other than being utterly mortified, yes," Weiss replied after a pause. "The experience was traumatizing. I understand your intentions – I would have sliced off your fingers otherwise – I wish you went about it in a less heart attack-inducing way."

"So you're ready for the performance?" Sapphire asked.

"Yes," Weiss replied halfheartedly. The look on Sapphire's face told him he was definitely not deceived. "Okay! I'm nervous, alright?"

"Can I ask you something?" Sapphire asked out of the blue. Weiss hesitated on replying, which ended up giving him the time to speak up. "Why are you trying so hard for this?"

"What?" Weiss asked back icily.

"It's a performance," Sapphire elaborated. "I get that there's your company's image at stake, but is it really worth working yourself half to death for it?"

"If you get it, then there would be no need to ask," Weiss snapped. "Do you have any idea what it means to represent a company like the Schnee Dust Company?"

"No," Sapphire admitted easily. "That's why I asked."

"It's not your average publicity stunt," Weiss said, raising her voice. "It's not some cheap performance you go to and never remember after that. It's a performance to showcase the abilities of the leading company in the world! How can anyone expect anything but the best?!"

"If you know what it is," Sapphire said slowly. "And since you're clear about who you are, why are you so bothered by not being able to perform up to standards? As far as we all know, you are the one who sets the standards in the first place. I may not attend classes and all that, but I've seen your test results. You already are the best."

"That's not enough!" Weiss fired back. "So what if I get the best results?! I still lose in combat to Pyrrha! You're not even a student, and I'd still lose to you if we fought! All these are the minimal requirements, not achievements! I should be the best in absolutely everything, but I'm not! I'm a failure of a Schnee! Now do you see why this is such a big deal?!"

"There're things you shouldn't say," Sapphire pointed out. "If you call your results worthless, then you're stepping all over the effort put in by those who lost to you. How would Rose feel if she heard that? She's stayed up on many nights just to cram for the stuff you know like the back of your hand."

"I can't," Weiss said. "I can't look at other people's problems; why should I when they're all above me?! All of you have something I don't have! All of you are better than me at something! I'm supposed to be perfect, but I'm nothing but common trash when I'm compared to everyone else! I'm supposed to be a Schnee, but I'm the one who's mediocre when compared to the ones who were supposed to be talentless! Those are gaps I can't cross no matter how much hard work I put in! That's why I- I- I put in…"

She started hyperventilating, having lost all control during her outburst. Sapphire waited her out, letting the white-haired heiress catch her breath.

"Do you know why my weapons are white and black?" he asked, only to be greeted by a look of utter confusion from Weiss. "It's for combat. In the day, Duskfall is easily visible but Daybreak becomes harder to see. The opposite is true at night, so this way, regardless of location or time, I have an attack the opponent can see and one they cannot, which makes it harder for them to fight back. Sounds good, right?"

Weiss kept quiet, completely thrown off by his words; where on Remnant was he going with this?

"But this leaves a fatal flaw," Sapphire continued. "By having both colors, I have a weapon that shines in both situations, but also a weapon that pulls me down in both situations by being a visible target. It's an imperfection that almost got me killed on many occasions. My glowing eyes are similar as well: they power me up, sure, but they also make it near impossible for me to hide in the dark. But I'm still here.

"I'm not saying you shouldn't aim for perfection," Sapphire said solemnly. "I don't know anything about your background or what you have to live with, but I'll say this: imperfection is not a sin, nor is it a weakness. We live with our imperfections and overcome them for better results, but we don't necessarily get rid of them. Most of the time, we can't. You don't have to be perfect to shine, Weiss. And you most certainly don't need to be the best in everything."

"Then what do I do?" Weiss asked heatedly, but her voice turned out weak. "If I'm mediocre and weak, if I can't beat anyone at anything no matter how much effort I put in, what do I do?"

"Look at what you're capable of," Sapphire answered. "Just because someone else excels at something does not mean you need to compete with them. If you keep paying attention to the achievements of others, you'll just end up getting a late start in everything trying to catch up. Pay attention to what you can do, and excel at that. There's always something only you can do.

"And for the love of all that's holy, learn your limits," Sapphire continued exasperatedly. "If you don't acknowledge them, you'll wear yourself out. If you see an obstacle you can't overcome, stop and think about it for a moment. You won't know anything but failure if you blindly put in hard work and expecting it all to pile up and give you results somehow. If that worked, I'd still have my legs proper."

They mulled in the silence for a few more moments, with Sapphire seemingly finished with his lecture and Weiss too depressed to speak.

"So what can I do?" Weiss asked. Unable to come up with anything, she resorted to asking someone else for help. Her pride lay forgotten somewhere, if only for the time being. "What is it that only I can do? How am I in any way special or… or good?"

"If you only look at others, you can't see yourself," Sapphire said, remembering the words that had been used on him once. "But if you acknowledge yourself and decide, you just might find the answer. It's not up to me to tell you."

She did not have to be at the forefront of battle. She did not need to stand out with grandiose acts or flashy entrances; she could shine right there as part of the team that treasured her so. To Sapphire, Weiss was the support of the team, be it in battle or mentally. It was something only she could do, and only she could excel at. If she could find the resolve to give it her all for herself and her friends, then calling her the best teammate one could have may not be an exaggeration. She could shine, not as a lone girl, but as a crucial component of an unstoppable force. She just needed to understand that.

"But for now," he added with a smirk, "You can settle for being the best singer among us. You'll find your answer eventually, snowflake, maybe even during your time on the stage. Don't think too deeply into it and let it come naturally. In the meantime, you have an audience to dazzle with your voice."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took some time. Sorry about that!
> 
> Next up, the opening night. Next next chapter is when the fighting and stuff starts proper! Brace yourselves!
> 
> Till next chapter!


	14. A penny for your thoughts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes people just need to give you a penny to speak your thoughts. Or something like that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to chapter 14!
> 
> This one took a very long time to write, because of Neptune. Yes, because of that guy who managed to pull off blue hair. I'm going to literally pull that blue hair off someday.
> 
> Also, remember that last line in Chapter 9?

"Mercury?"

He looked up at the mention of his name, only to show his partner an expression of mild interest.

"What's with that look?" Emerald asked, her hands planted firmly on her hips. Her partner's recent lack of talking, while somewhat refreshing, was also unnerving her a little. It felt more than just odd seeing Mercury like that.

It was almost frightening how serious he looked sometimes.

"Couldn't live without my beautiful voice?" Mercury teased, a mischievous smile playing on his lips.

Emerald scowled. He was the same old annoying Mercury alright.

"You've had your earphones on for hours on end every day now," she observed. "What on Remnant are you listening to?"

"It's just- hey!" Mercury forgot his dismissive reply as Emerald yanked out one of his earphones and plugged it into her own ear.

"I adorrre you~" a mortifyingly terrible singing voice flooded into Emerald's ear. It was so utterly horrible she jerked the earphone out before her eardrums burst from the atrocity assaulting it. "Please be my fore-eh-ever lo-o-ove~!"

Luckily for Mercury, who had been listening in for any sudden updates to Sapphire's plans, had been interrupted in the middle of Jaune's supposedly romantic secret performance to Pyrrha. While it served as superb camouflage, it would probably also mislead Emerald to the extent that she would begin to question Mercury's character.

"Mercury… you…" Emerald muttered. "You really have terrible tastes in music."

"I know," Mercury said, wanting to do a cordless bungee jump out of sheer shame. "I know. Don't say it out loud, please."

"Honestly!" Emerald grumbled. "The whole thing's going down tonight, and you're slacking around listening to… whatever that nonsense is. Don't you even want to prepare a little bit?"

"Oh, don't worry," Mercury replied, getting off the bed and pocketing his earphones. "I'm actually taking this seriously, you know."

"Sure hope so," Emerald sighed, hiding the faint smile she had. She knew that Mercury was perfectly capable of focusing on the task at hand when the situation demanded it, but nagging at him about it had become a familiar practice for her.

"You just sit back and enjoy the performance," Mercury offered, smirking. "Everything will go smoothly, you'll see."

"I wond-" Emerald began, before she registered the look in Mercury's eyes. It actually rendered her speechless for a few moments. "Mercury?"

But Mercury could not hear her. For the first time in what felt like forever, he was feeling excited about a mission. Regardless of actual skill, preparation or confidence, this was a mission in which he had a real risk of dying. Once he won under that condition, he would be able to prove his worth. With this victory, he could validate his existence as someone special. Someone strong. Someone who was not mediocre.

His smirk was not wide, but that expression sent chills down Emerald's spine. She was not unfamiliar with the faces of killers, of fighters, but the look on Mercury's face was something else entirely. Even though to anyone else, it would have been nothing more than a display of confidence and anticipation, she thought Mercury's face resembled that of a ravenous beast about to be let off the leash.

"Everything will go smoothly," he repeated.

-

Ruby Rose – fearless hunter of monsters – drew a shaky breath. The enemy was not moving, but it did not mean that she could relax just yet.

She knew that she had failed to vanquish it, but she had not thought that they would encounter each other again this soon. Drawing Crescent Rose and resting the tip of its blade on the surface of the floor, she tensed her body and approached cautiously.

"Yang, you've got my back, right?" she asked, feeling the thick bead of perspiration trickling down her forehead.

"Just go, Ruby," Yang said lightheartedly, pushing her sister towards the jaws of the monster. "You've faced worse."

"Yang!" Ruby cried out in utter disbelief. "I trusted you! My sister! You just tried to kill me!"

"They're just high heels, Ruby," Blake added, sighing as she tied the dark blue bow on her head to hide her ears; a Faunus showing up at a Schnee event would not be good for Weiss's image after all. Despite Weiss's complaints, Blake had decided to hide her cat ears anyway. "Weiss wears them all the time."

"Weiss has poor fashion sense then!" Ruby exclaimed as she picked up her archnemesis and slipping them on with an expression suggesting she was wearing a pair of Grimm carcasses, before immediately slapping her hands over her mouth.

"Weiss isn't here," Sapphire pointed out, fiddling with his phone. Seeing Ruby heave a sigh of relief, he added: "I recorded that comment though."

"You what?!" Ruby all but screamed. "Please please please delete it, Sapphire! That message is a noose waiting to be tightened!"

"Around whose neck?" Sapphire asked.

"Mine!" Ruby admitted without a hint of shame.

"Well, if you set Zwei on Blake I could consider it," Sapphire commented, causing the young leader to look at her teammate with grim resolution.

"I'm sorry, Blake," Ruby said seriously. "But sacrifices must be made."

"Ruby," Blake warned with fear and anger mixed in her voice. "If you even take one step towards me with that abomination in hand…"

"But if Weiss finds out what I said she'll kill me!" Ruby whined. "You don't lose anything, and you even get to cuddle with Zwei!"

"That's not-!"

Sapphire would have liked to listen to the rest of the exchange, but he was distracted by a sudden phone call. Picking up the call, he stepped out of the room and more importantly, out of earshot.

"Yeah?" he asked. "Yes, it's like I said. I don't know. It's up to you, but I think you need to talk to her about it. Go ahead."

He hung up, not bothering to hear Neptune's reply. He knew that the blue-haired man could make proper decisions, and that it was his voice that Weiss wanted to hear most. He had already given him this one push, and now the rest was up to them.

For Sapphire, there was a more pressing matter at hand to focus on.

-

Weiss fiddled with the hem of her skirt nervously as she leaned against the door leading to the changing rooms, waiting. She had asked the guards to leave for a few minutes so that they could have this conversation in private, even though this could hardly be considered very 'private'.

"So, um…" she began awkwardly. "What did you want to talk about?"

"I…" Neptune took a deep breath. Weiss had to admit, he was a total knockout in that tuxedo. "I have to tell you something."

"Well, yeah, I kinda knew that," Weiss pointed out.

"I-I need to be honest with you," Neptune confessed. "I heard you're… um… not too confident about your abilities."

Weiss stiffened. When she recovered from the minor shock, she immediately began having regrets about not adding more salt back in the infirmary. That idiot definitely told on her.

"I just thought I'd let you know I think you're amazing," Neptune went on. "I-I know you get told that a lot, but I thought you looked really radiant no matter what you were doing."

"Neptune, I appreciate this," Weiss said, somewhat disappointed. "I know you're trying to make me feel more confident before the performance, but-"

"It's not that," Neptune cut across her. "I wanted to say all this after the performance, but I'll say it now: I-I like you."

Weiss froze. Despite being called the Ice Queen and similar names, the white-haired heiress still froze.

"W-what?" she stammered. She was glad no one else was seeing the look on her face right now. "W-why me? There're so many better girls around!"

"There aren't," Neptune replied flatly. "You're special, Weiss, and even if you fall short of others in certain places, it doesn't mean you have no qualities of your own."

"But I'm mediocre!" Weiss cried. "I'm just average! I can't lead, I can't fight, and I'm not cool! You're perfect! You're cool, you're strong and you're confident! You're the one who's special!"

"I'm not all that, Weiss," Neptune replied, a hint of grief in his voice. "I only look cool because I go the extra mile to look that way; otherwise people'll just keep making fun of me for my hair color. If I look confident and cool enough, people don't see me as insecure either, y'know?"

Weiss just stood there, flabbergasted, as Neptune continued to speak. Her interpretation of him – that glorious, fantastic image – was crumbling bit by bit with every word.

"I lied when I said I was too busy to come," Neptune admitted. "I just felt like seeing you do something so amazing would make me feel even more pathetic, you know?

"I'm not that great with fighting either," Neptune confessed. "You remember that time we were fighting that big robot – that something paladin – I barely helped out at all. I know for a fact that you're better than I am, so I didn't want to embarrass myself in front of you in class. That's why I skipped classes; it's so I could train with Sun in secret."

"W-why are you telling me all this?" Weiss asked, perplexed. As glad as she was that Neptune came clean with her, why was he telling her this instead of at the end of the concert like he had wanted to?

"Because I didn't want you to go up feeling hesitant about yourself," Neptune replied. "I probably never told you this, but I er… I kinda peeped on you whenever you were practicing. W-wait, let me explain myself. I thought that you looked really great when you were rehearsing or practicing because… well… because when I see you put in effort, I felt that you were ordinary like I was… Like we were equals. I don't want that hard work to go to waste; I want to see you shine in front of everyone even if I can't be there with you.

"I'm not perfect," he said. "But I'll do the best I can. No matter how lowly I think of myself, I can be proud of the effort I put in to make it this far. I can be confident in myself because I know I've done my best. Don't live by others' absurd standards, Weiss; you've put in too much effort to be swayed by other people who only see your results. Even if you're not the best fighter, even if you're not the best leader, you're still special; you're still perfect to me."

"That's…" Weiss paused for dramatic effect. Ruby was probably rubbing off on her too much. "That's not fair! You're saying what I wanted to say!"

"What?" Neptune asked, dumbfounded. He was only just recovering from his extremely embarrassing words too.

"I always felt inferior to everyone," Weiss said. "I've always felt inferior to you. You can't just come and turn that on me and say it first! What am I supposed to say now?"

"Uh…" Neptune fiddled with his fingers for a few moments. "Maybe… you could reply to my confession?"

"Wha-" Weiss asked, before she realized that Neptune really _had_ confessed to her. That realization made her face flush a brilliant shade of red in the span of 0.1 seconds. "I-Yeah! Um, yeah!"

A heavy silence descended, and Weiss could swear some of her guards were sniggering in the distance. She should go and have their pay cut.

"I-it's my first time, so… just know I'm new at this romance thing, okay?" she asked, breaking the silence while also looking away in embarrassment.

"H-hey! It's my first time too!" Neptune complained. Weiss gave him a dubious raising of an eyebrow. "I'm serious!"

"Well, we can start together then," Weiss offered with a smile, holding out one hand. "And see how this goes. We'll figure something out."

"I can live with that," Neptune replied, shaking her hand.

"But for now, I'll fulfil your first request," Weiss declared. "I'll show everyone a great performance."

"Not a perfect performance?" Neptune asked.

She was a Schnee. She was the future image of the largest Dust Company in the world. But for now, she was just a girl. For now, she was just his girlfriend.

For now, she was giving the best she had for him. For the people who supported her all the way. For herself as well.

"Not yet," Weiss replied. "I'm not perfect – not yet – but I'll do my best out there."

-

"Stupid lady stilts!" Ruby cursed, directing all her frustration at the pair of high heels she was wearing alongside her dress.

"This might be beyond me," Sapphire said, sounding surprisingly normal despite having his recording device crushed by Blake earlier. "But why is Zwei here? And why is he wearing a suit?"

"Because Weiss loves him!" Yang replied, holding up the dog which was, sure enough, wearing a mini-tuxedo meant for dogs. Zwei whined like a tortured martyr.

"What has been seen…" Sapphire muttered, fishing out his phone from inside his suit. "Oh man I gotta post a picture of this thing on bludit."

"What's a bludit?" Blake asked, raising an eyebrow as she kept her distance from Zwei.

"It's only the front page of the net," Sapphire replied. "Am I the only one who surfs the net here?"

"Yes," Ruby, Yang and Blake replied at the same time. Zwei barked.

"Wonderful," Sapphire groaned. He groaned again as they entered the concert hall. "You've got to be kidding. Metal Detectors? Seriously?"

He had expected this, but to actually have to go through them was a real pain. He did tell Weiss that Lifesaver could not be removed just to enter the place, and he had expected there to be some sort of measures taken to that effect, but she had not gotten back to him about that.

"Mister… Fall?" the guard read out, giving Sapphire a weird look as he read off the invite. "Please wait a moment; we'll momentarily disable the metal detectors to let you pass."

"Special orders from Miss Schnee?" Sapphire asked, hiding his smirk.

"Yes," the guard replied, tapping a few keys on the laptop next to him. "We were told you wore advanced Schnee prosthetics, so you would trip the metal detectors just by entering. Miss Schnee has put in a special request for you because of that. You may pass."

"Ah, wonderful," Sapphire said dramatically, walking through the silenced metal detector. "Absolutely smashing!"

"We're in," Pyrrha's voice reported over his earbud, responding to the codeword. "Did you get them in no problem?"

"Indeed," Sapphire replied in a hushed tone, picking up the bouquet of flowers he had been carrying around. "Gather in five."

-

It actually took six minutes for Sapphire to finally leave Team RWBY's balcony, having had to dodge Blake's alert gaze and Zwei's annoyingly good nose. Discretion was, he hoped, achieved at the very least, but he doubted it.

Team JNPR was waiting for him just outside their balcony's entrance, dressed in modified formal wear fit for combat. Nora looked like she had way too much sugar in her system.

"And here we are," Sapphire announced, pulling out Magnhild in its folded form from inside the bouquet and passing it to her. With a flick of his wrists, he produced Stormflower and handed them to Ren, before removing Miló and Akoúo̱ from the sheaths inside his shirt. Finally, he unzipped the left side of his pants, pulling out a sheathed Crocea Mors. "We've just smuggled weapons into a Schnee concert. We're now officially terrorists. Hooray!"

"Terrorists don't have such hot boyfriends," Nora added, nudging Ren in the side.

"O-or such wonderful girlfriends," Jaune said, defending his own girl.

"Okay, okay, the hugs and making out can come later," Sapphire said exasperatedly. "Everyone knows your positions, so head there and we'll communicate via these-" he tapped his ear for emphasis. "You guys already took up the time we had for smack-talk, so let's move."

One by one, the four members of Team JNPR walked off, leaving Sapphire standing alone in the large corridor. He watched them go nervously, gripping his fists to force back the uncertainty.

When he finally cleared his head of his doubts, he was already outside. The skies were dark and countless stars twinkled endlessly across the dark canvas, only to be outdone by the gentle glow of the moon. The night was peaceful, but Sapphire knew for a fact that it would not stay.

As though wanting to prove him right, the sounds of battle sounded.

Gunshots. Clashing metal. Extremely soft thumps from hand-to-hand combat. The numbers were fairly small, but it was without a doubt a skirmish of some sort.

Something was wrong. A battle was going on somewhere, somehow, and it had started this early. Something was clearly amiss. Granted, every auditorium inside the concert hall was soundproofed, but something making this much noise was sure to attract the security.

"Come in, anyone," he said, tapping his earbud as he activated Daybreak and Duskfall. "I'm hearing fighting going on outside the hall. Heading over-"

"Who are you?"

Following those words, a short girl stood before him, barring his path. She looked far too young to be part of the security detail, and she was definitely not a Faunus either. Was she lost?

"Why do you have weapons on you?" the girl with curly orange hair asked as her green eyes scanned across Sapphire's arms and legs. "You're heavily armed. You're not security!"

"What gave me away, genius?" Sapphire asked sarcastically. "The crossbows on my arms, perhaps?"

"I won't let you hurt my friend!" the girl declared, summoning several floating swords from seemingly out of thin air. "You shall not pass!"

"The kids just keep getting weirder," Sapphire wondered aloud. "Who on Remnant might you be?"

"I'm Penny!" the girl introduced herself. "And I'm Combat Ready! I will not let you harm my friend! Prepare to be defeated!"

"Combat ready?" Sapphire repeated. "I like to test that theory. Then I'm gonna test my blades on your little 'friends'."

He had no time to waste. Mercury was here somewhere, and he had to find him quick. He had no time to be fooling around with this mysterious assailant hired by the White Fang.

"This will hurt a bit," he said, changing Daybreak and Duskfall into their bladed forms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And… yeah. Neptune's interaction with Weiss could have and should have gone a lot better, but this one felt appropriate so I kept it as is. Don't know if I'll regret it yet. As usual, leave a review if you have anything you want to say about this chapter or story thus far!
> 
> But Penny! Yes, Ruby managed to convince Weiss to invite Penny. Her presence because of JNPR's expected absence was pure coincidence, but will it actually become a blessing in disguise? Or just a pure disaster?
> 
> Till next chapter, folks!


	15. Crossing paths

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After years, they finally confront each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to chapter 15! Possibly the 2nd last or 3rd last chapter of this arc, which coincides with how Volume 2 is ending, huh? Speaking of which, that episode was pretty awesome, no? The flame thermos, dog ball, fighting, crashing… I'm gonna go on a fanboy rant at this rate.
> 
> Before that happens, here we go:

The old man could only stand and watch as the battle raged on. Rather than a battle, it might have been more appropriate to call it a 'war' given its intensity. How many years ago had he last witnessed something of this scale?

Even when his Dust shop was robbed by Roman Torchwick, and the mysterious girl in red fought off the thugs, he had not seen this intensity. Even when he caught glimpses of the battle from the noodle shop, between a giant battlesuit and four girls, it did not feel that tense. Perhaps it was because back then, he somehow knew that the girls would be fine. Perhaps it was the way they presented themselves that gave onlookers confidence in their abilities. Now, as he was mopping the floors of the concert hall, a much larger battle was taking place outside.

Towards the children fighting right now, he could not find himself having that confidence. Perhaps it was just the air around them, or perhaps it was just the sheer amount of enemies they were facing.

Their foes, clad in black and armed to the teeth, charged towards them in massive swarms. Their faces, hidden behind their masks, not only gave off the impression of monsters but enforced their anonymity – a phenomenon that gave off the illusion that they were endless entities, undying and unyielding in the face of defeat.

The moment one was knocked down, another stepped in. When that one was defeated, another one would take their place. No matter how hard the children swung, no matter how much they fought and won, their efforts were nothing more than trying to cut a flowing stream of water with a knife.

"This is ridiculous!" Jaune exclaimed, slamming his shield into a White Fang Soldier's face, knocking him back. "There're too many!"

"Keep your cool, Jaune!" Pyrrha yelled over the sounds of her weapon clashing. She was going to avoid gunfire as much as she could, but if this continued then she might not have that luxury anymore. "Don't be rash; take them down one by one!"

All hopes of keeping a low profile went out the window along with Jaune's reply in the next moment, as a series of explosions blew away a group of nearby goons. Dashing out from the giant cloud of debris while blindly firing off a series of arrows back into the debris, Sapphire wiped off the blood that was starting to obscure his vision.

"They've got reinforcements!" he declared, kicking an approaching soldier in the gut, sending him flying. "She's a real pain, too! I'm counting on you guys to hold the line here!"

"Got it!" Jaune replied. "Nora! Ren! We need help out here!"

"O-kay~!" Nora declared cheerfully.

Sapphire paused for a moment, eyes widening briefly before he charged back into battle. He did not hear Jaune's voice through his earbud just now, which was a cause for concern. Even though he should have addressed the issue right then and there, there was a more pressing problem on his mind right now.

Crouching, he avoided what appeared to be a discus made out of rapidly spinning blades. It tore through the dust cloud cleanly, dispersing Sapphire's cover and proceeding to mow down nearby White Fang soldiers.

"That's cold, kiddo!" Sapphire commented, slashing down with Daybreak and getting caught in a deadlock against two floating blades. "You should treasure your little friends; cutting them down is my job."

"I won't let anyone hurt my friends!" Penny declared, sending four more blades towards Sapphire as he was immobilized by the pair in between them.

"That's a conflicting statement!" Sapphire exclaimed, parrying the blades in front of him and sending them crashing into the incoming ones. "And something that cliché is something only Arc can say with a straight face!"

Regardless of how lighthearted he sounded, Sapphire was in a state of utter confusion. Even after exchanging blows with the blades that Penny was throwing around like toys, he could not figure out how her weapons worked.

The flexibility of the floating gunblades suggested that she was not using wires, but even after the previous explosion – which had been an EMP Grenade – the movements of the weapons had not dulled in the least. Even if she could change the medium to control them, they were far too agile for her to control at once. However, even if he could not figure out how they worked, he had at least managed to note a potential weakness.

She could not control every single gunblade individually all at once. That was why her attacks typically came in the form of multiple blades following one set motion, or forming a specific shape. It just gave him a larger target to dodge.

He did not have time to waste here. Something was amiss about the attack, and he needed to organize his thoughts properly before planning his next move. How was he going to do any of that when this annoying kid kept getting in his way?

Letting loose a grenade beneath his feet, Sapphire charged towards Penny using the explosion to boost his momentum. The sudden burst of speed allowed him to elude the incoming blades, but before Sapphire could land a fatal hit, a gunshot echoed from behind him. What followed was a jolt of pain in his right shoulder, throwing off his balance.

She had fired her weapons from behind him, right after Sapphire had charged past them. Although that much was to be expected, Sapphire was forced to stop his attack because of it. Instead, he supported his body on his left hand and aimed a kick down at Penny's head.

With surprising agility, Penny jumped back, avoiding Sapphire's kick. Sapphire followed up with a somersault, but before he could launch another attack, he found himself immobilized. More specifically, Lifesaver had been immobilized.

The weird gunblades that Penny manipulated had pierced Lifesaver, albeit not deeply enough to cut into his flesh. Because of the alterations made to Lifesaver, the enhanced battle prosthesis stopped all movement, preventing Sapphire from taking another step as long as it remained in Neutral Mode and the damage was not fixed.

"Looks like I win," Penny declared, pulling in her remaining blades. As she let them float ominously behind her, she continued to observe Sapphire and, more importantly, Lifesaver.

"You're… not human?" she asked, perplexed.

"I won't be in a few seconds' time," Sapphire replied, completely missing the tone in which Penny had asked that question. "Safety o-"

"Penny! Sapphire!"

Both fighters turned at the voice, just as she did a backflip over a White Fang goon's head, kicking it in the process. She may have preferred fist fighting, but her legs were nowhere losing in terms of strength.

"Yang, you need to watch it," her partner – a black haired girl with a twitchy ribbon on her head – said exasperatedly. "You're wearing a dress; any wild movements and they'll see what's under it when your dress keeps flipping up."

"What's it matter?" Yang asked cheerfully. "If we're going to knock their lights out, we might as well let them see something nice before they pass out, right?"

"At least be a little embarrassed…" Blake sighed, massaging her temple.

"Why are you guys here?" Sapphire asked. "And you guys know this kid?"

"She's Penny," Blake introduced as Yang wandered off somewhere to beat up some more goons. Oddly enough, she had Ember Celica already equipped on her. "She's a friend of Ruby's, and… Well, she's a friend of ours."

"That's right!" Penny declared proudly. "I am a friend of Friend Blake and Friend Yang!"

"Don't say it," Blake said quickly as Sapphire opened his mouth. "Just… don't say it."

"She's practically begging people to say something with comments like that," Sapphire pointed out, as Penny removed the blades stabbing into Lifesaver. "But I guess she's an ally, then?"

"She is," Blake confirmed. "Now, can you explain the situation? Why is it a free-for-all brawl out here?"

"I don't know," Sapphire replied truthfully. "I can only say that this can't be their real goal; it's far too disorganized and noisy. Judging from the lack of guards, I'd say they were either taken out or the White Fang guys were mixed in with the proper guards to begin with. Either way, it'll be dangerous for them to get close to the auditorium. Can you fight?"

"We had the lockers," Blake declared, brandishing Gambol Shroud. "We'll take care of these guys. You head back into the concert hall."

"Wait," Sapphire interjected. "How did you guys know to come out? The walls should be soundproof-"

"Please," Blake said in a bored voice. "You didn't honestly think you could sneak away from a Faunus in the dark, did you?"

"But blondie-" Sapphire began.

"Did you really think I'd let my little kitty cat run off on her own?" Yang asked, sending several goons flying into the air. Blake stared into the distance without making a comment about that one. "Oh, yeah, Weiss told us she had a message for you!"

"She said she has something important to tell you after the concert," Blake relayed. "And you better show up, because she wants to set things straight once and for all."

"Wonderful," Sapphire replied. "Now I've got something else to worry about."

"I want to hear what this is all about when we're done too," Blake said seriously. "Don't think you're getting out of this one."

Despite the situation, Sapphire could not help but smile.

"Yeah, I got it," he replied. "I'll come back alive, so don't bother," he added, as Blake opened her mouth. Despite her usual cool demeanor, Blake was almost as much a worrywart as Ruby was.

Blake nodded, dashing off to aid her partner. That left Sapphire tending to Lifesaver while Penny watched in confusion.

"You're human?" Penny asked, almost disappointed.

"Yeah," Sapphire replied. "Sorry to disappoint. Anyway, you get back to the auditorium. Go sit back, relax and- okay okay you can help out," he changed his suggestion halfway swiftly, as the tip of several swords rested on his neck.

"I won't sit back while my friends are in danger!" she declared.

"I understand," Sapphire said, causing her to retract her blades. "But you'll have to keep this a secret from the others; Weiss'll be sad if everyone left the concert, right?"

"Understood!" Penny replied enthusiastically, giving him a mock salute. "I shall go assist Friend Yang and Friend Blake-"

"Hold on," Sapphire cut across her. He tapped his earbud, but as expected got nothing but static in return. It naturally did nothing for his morale right now. "I'm worried about something. Take this with you."

Reaching into a side compartment on Lifesaver, he produced a folded up headset and handed it to Penny.

"It's a two-way comms device," he explained, standing up and testing out Lifesaver. It was damaged, but it could at least move even in Neutral Mode now. "You can't communicate with Arc and the others with this, but it's linked directly to mine. If anything happens, I'll relay information to you with this."

"Roger!" Penny replied. "Now I shall go assist-"

"Hold on," Sapphire cut across her, starting to get a little annoyed. "This situation is abnormal. I need you to come with me back into the concert hall. If I engage with the enemy, I'll let you know what to do next."

Mercury was inside the concert hall. That much was certain. The only problem was what he would do after encountering him. Given the static he heard over his earbud and the clear connection between his and Penny's, Sapphire could roughly guess his opponent's hand. Even though it was risky, he decided on Penny as his last minute trump card.

"I need your help," he said, more earnestly than he had intended. "If I get stalled fighting the enemy, I'm counting on you to protect Weiss."

_If I die, I'll at least weaken him enough for you to take him out._

Biting back those words, Sapphire waited for Penny to reply. The orange-haired girl stayed silent for a few more minutes, before finally looking at Sapphire in the eye.

"Are you a friend of Weiss's?" she asked, all flamboyance lost.

"I'm not," Sapphire replied honestly. "But… if it all settles down, I'd like to be."

"Does Ruby consider you a friend?"

"… Yes," Sapphire answered after a stunned pause.

"Then I shall trust you!" Penny declared, the cheeriness returning to her face and voice. "I shall lend you my strength, Friend Sapphire!"

Sapphire managed a wry smile. Hearing those words actually spoken out loud made him feel embarrassed despite the situation.

"Thanks," he said. "Let's go."

Even when she was not aware of it, Weiss had her teammates looking out for her. Be it practice, training or studying, she was never alone. Even now, as her concert commenced inside one of the auditoriums in the large concert hall, her friends were out there fighting to keep her safe. Sapphire may not have appreciated how true those words had been when Blake first said them, but he had the feeling he was beginning to understand.

He could leave the soldiers to them. Right now, there was a far greater threat he had to face.

-

Ruby Rose was not pleased. Even Zwei, being the bundle of energy that he was, could not cheer her up right now.

She had not noticed when Sapphire left his seat, but when Blake and Yang rushed off as well, she finally realized that she had been left alone on their private balcony. How would they enjoy the performance together if they were not here?

On the stage below, Weiss stood confidently and proudly with her powerful voice filling the space. Ruby had only heard her sing once or twice, so she had no idea what Weiss's singing really sounded like. Now, she was absolutely spellbound by her voice and beauty. If she had to place a name on what she looked like, she would without reserve choose 'snow angel' – ephemeral and exquisite, fragile yet powerful, and eternally beautiful and graceful. It was as if she was an existence that transcended humanity.

"Such a beautiful face," a mellow voice said from behind her. "Such a beautiful voice as well."

Ruby jumped. She tried turning to see who it was, but the owner of that voice had already taken a seat next to her. That silky, flowing black hair and those captivating amber eyes left little doubt to who she was.

"Y-you're-" Ruby began, but Cinder pressed a finger to her lips.

"Hush, my little jewel," she said, her face breaking into a gentle yet powerful smile. Over in a corner, Zwei whined as he sat down in fear, cowering at the aura this woman gave off. "We wouldn't want to interrupt such a nice performance, now do we?"

Wordlessly, Ruby shook her head. Chuckling pleasantly, Cinder removed her finger. At the same time, she cast a sideways glance to the balcony just behind the one they were in, where the sniper was already readying his weapon.

"I apologize," she said, pressing a gentle palm to Ruby's cheeks. "But for now, keep your eyes on me, okay?"

Ruby felt instantly compelled to agree. She had no idea why, but the moment those words emerged from her lips, she was filled with the impulse to follow her commands. Taking a shaky breath, she nodded.

"There's a good girl," Cinder praised, smiling even wider.

The final obstacle was removed. All that was left was the pulling of the trigger, and Weiss Schnee would have drawn her last breath.

-

Mercury smiled.

"Too slow," he said, loudly enough for the entire auditorium to hear. It was empty save for them, so it echoed a little before dissipating. "I purposely chose the auditorium next to the one she's performing in so you could reach me earlier, you know."

"Not very subtle, are you?" Sapphire asked, walking at a casual pace towards the stage. "Your pitiful attempt to kill her isn't going to succeed, you know? Maybe it would have been better to use less people."

"That doesn't matter anymore," Mercury replied. "You're here, which means you gave up on saving her. What happens outside of this room shouldn't be a concern of yours anymore."

"But seriously, that's the best you have?" Sapphire asked. "Pretty pathetic, I'd say."

_Mirror, tell me something_

He had a lot more information to drag out of Mercury, but he had to bide his time. If he played his cards right, Weiss could still be saved.

_Tell me who's the loneliest of all?_

Mercury waited as Sapphire approached, knowing full well that he was checking for traps along the way. Mercury had not bothered with cheap tricks like that, but he knew full well that telling Sapphire would not make him stop checking.

_Mirror, tell me something_

Stepping onto the brightly lit stage, Sapphire readied Daybreak and Duskfall in their bladed forms. Weiss's concert was probably already underway. Shame he would have to miss it.

_Tell me who's the loneliest of all?_

"Only blue?" Mercury asked, referring to Sapphire's eye color. "You're not taking me seriously enough if you're going to stop there."

_Fear of what's inside me_

Responding to those words, Sapphire's irises faded from bright blue to a shining scarlet hue. The foreign sensation – which Sapphire had hardly been thankful for – returned to his body, even though it was not that strong yet.

"Tell me, Saph," Mercury asked. "Do you have it in you to kill me?"

_Tell me can a heart be turned to stone?_

"We'll see," Sapphire replied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Showdown next chapter! Hopefully it'll make it in time for Volume 2's finale.
> 
> Till then, readers!


	16. In Light's Shadow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where light shines, it will surely cast a shadow. In the wake of vibrant smiles, tragedy is not far away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to Chapter 16! Longest. Chapter. Ever! But hey, I made it in time...
> 
> With this, Weiss's arc is over, and the next arc will follow in the next chapter, in which oddly enough Blake and Weiss will return to the spotlight for a bit. No point discussing that now, though.
> 
> The costume that'll appear at the end… the character is legit. Search up the image gallery for 'RWBYsaurus' and you'll see a picture of it in a band with Team RWBY. You'll see why it's relevant later on.
> 
> Oh, and remember the passing comment Sapphire made in Chapter 23?

He did not know if it was because of his late addition to the team, but he was often mocked by the other mercenaries. Over time, he had come to be called the 'coward'. Because of his tendency to formulate different plans and strategies, everyone inadvertently arrived at the conclusion that he was scared of fighting. They assumed that he was afraid to die.

In truth, Sapphire desired the heat of battle more than any of them did. His entire existence as a mercenary was to fight endlessly, even if his body was to be destroyed as a result. The reason why he planned – the reason why he put so much effort into it – was so that his team would survive. He wanted to fight, even if he was to lose his life, but he was ultimately unwilling to let those around him die.

That was the difference between them.

Mercury Black, who had been designated as his new partner, was very similar yet extremely different from Sapphire's previous partner: he liked to talk, and was a carefree guy around the clock, but he could think exceedingly quickly on his feet. He was not one to indulge in drawn-out planning processes, and he was certainly not someone who would wait while they go through every detail of the mission. He liked to talk, but above all, he loved action.

He was shrewd and cunning, able to ensure his own survival under any perilous situation. He was able to keep calm under any circumstances, analyzing the best moves to make while pulverizing his foes. Even when unexpected elements were mixed in, his quick thinking always helped him pull through in the end. When it came down to it, he was a dependable ally to have.

People referred to him as the real 'fighter', and Sapphire as the 'coward'. The differences were great at first, but after Sapphire managed to catch up, the names slowly faded away. If anything, he felt that they had been swapped around.

Even if it ensured their survival, no one in their group would throw away their pride and bow down to an enemy; their pride was the only proof they had that they were still human after all. However, Mercury had thrown that away, and sided with the White Fang. Mercury Black, of all people, had aided the enemy and betrayed his allies. If there was a person amongst them befitting of the title 'coward', Sapphire was sure Mercury would be that person.

Harboring those thoughts, he had come to Beacon for… what, exactly? Even though he thought Mercury was a cowardly traitor who deserved nothing but death, he had still let himself get talked by Ozpin into going to a school of all places. He had been unsure at first, but now, after spending some time here, he believed that he finally knew the reason. The reason for his hesitance to kill Mercury.

-

"I'll let you make the first move," Mercury offered, smiling confidently.

"Before that, let me ask something," Sapphire replied. He too was in a neutral stance, but he was ready to intercept an incoming attack at any time. "What's this 'grand plan' to kill Weiss? It can't be that goon squad outside, can it?"

"You're still going on about that?" Mercury sighed. "Even though just by being here you've lost the chance-"

"I'm glad I'm one step ahead of you, then."

Mercury stopped talking and glared at him. Sapphire put up a confident smirk in return, even though he was in fact extremely nervous; he had no information, and only by egging Mercury on could he get it. If he failed here, Weiss would really be dead. Luckily enough, he knew how to properly taunt Mercury after spending that much time as his partner.

"Such a primitive tactic," Sapphire said, using the most infuriating taunting voice he could muster (which he also happened to dub 'The Schnee'). "Using the low-ranked White Fang goons to launch a large-scale attack while you stay inside the concert hall? You said that I had to choose between saving Weiss and fighting you, but this way I can accomplish both objectives in one fell swoop. You see, I have a trump card."

"And that would be?" Mercury asked, clearly trying to hide his mirth.

"A team of four Hunters-in-training as my reinforcements," Sapphire replied. "They'll hold off your little assault squad while I wipe the floor with you. I bet you didn't think I'd ask for-"

Mercury broke into gales of laughter, momentarily forgetting that they were about to fight to kill.

"Is that it?" he mocked. "Your precious members of Team JNPR are your best bet? Don't be ridiculous, Saph!"

"How do you know that name?" Sapphire asked, putting on a shocked expression as he took a step back.

"I've been listening this whole time," Mercury revealed. "I know every little part of your plan. That's why there is even an assault squad in the first place – to keep those four busy. Besides, I figured you'd think the commotion outside was suspicious and come back into the hall just in case the assault team was meant to be distraction. That's why I'm here."

"Interesting," Sapphire replied, switching back to his smirk. "Too bad I'm not falling for that bluff, Merc. You can't throw off my concentration will a lie like that. Another team is seated in the audience, and they would know immediately when someone suspicious makes a move in there. You can't possibly have someone else infiltrate the place under these conditions, and even if they're already inside they'll get exposed. It might be possible for a large assault force, but they're being taken care of by Team JNPR. Face it: you've lost."

"Do you really think it's that easy?" Mercury retorted. "Do you really think a plan this important would be carried out in such a loud fashion? Of course not. Like I said: I know about your recruiting Team JNPR. The plan was modified to make up for that."

"Well then, I'm sure you won't mind revealing that plan to me, would you?" Sapphire asked. If there was one thing Mercury would fall for right now, it was the chance to openly declare his victory and superiority over Sapphire. He had seen through every last part of Sapphire's plans, so he was ensured to win. That confidence and inferiority complex was what drove his words. "You're sure of your victory, aren't you? Or are you just unable to come up with a proper lie to deceive me with?"

"It's hopeless, Saph," Mercury declared. "You can't save her, not when you're here with me. I told you that you had to choose, and you have chosen. Now Schnee will die because of your lack of ability."

"Like I said, that's not-"

"A sniper."

He had it. Sapphire put up a cautious front, waiting for Mercury to spill the beans.

"We have a sniper on the balcony where Team JNPR should have sat at," Mercury announced proudly, his smirk widening with every word. "It's a blind spot even to Team RWBY, and with everyone fighting outside no one will be able to go back to the auditorium. You thought that with Team RWBY inside, you could leave it to them and not care about it, so you made JNPR look out for people outside the auditorium. You didn't know, did you, that all you managed to accomplish was giving us the perfect spot to shoot from?"

Sapphire tapped his earbud, but Mercury shook his head.

"You really don't know when to give up," he said. "I've cut the connection between all your earpieces, and-"

He paused at the look on Sapphire's face, unnerved by the sight of a smile of all things appearing on his face. Even though it was surely his loss, the red-eyed man was smiling.

"Did you get that, Penny?" Sapphire asked.

"Loud and clear!" Penny replied enthusiastically.

"Now Weiss is safe," Sapphire declared to a dumbstruck Mercury. "All that's left is to pummel you into the ground."

"Ever the schemer, aren't you…" Mercury muttered, rage spilling from every syllable. The amount of hostility oozing out from every pore was enough to shake the very air around him. "When did you recruit someone else?"

"Just now," Sapphire replied. "You couldn't cut off the connection because I didn't set it up until just now as well."

"You trusted someone you met for the first time?" Mercury asked incredulously.

"She's a friend of my friends," Sapphire answered simply. "That's enough for me. Shocking, I know, but there you have it."

"You just had to be ahead," Mercury said, taking a small step forward. "You just can't lose, not against the likes of me, can you…"

"When it comes down to battle, there're always unexpected elements," Sapphire said, momentarily stopping Mercury in his tracks. "Those are times that no amount of planning can predict, so it's during those moments you have to make a swift decision – one that will lead to victory. Those were your own words, Merc."

Instead of giving a verbal reply, Mercury charged forward with a powerful leap, denting the floor they were on. Lifting one leg and bringing it down with enough force to break a stack of concrete, his expression was filled with hate.

Stepping to the side, Sapphire fired off an arrow which narrowly missed Mercury's nose as the latter pulled his head back. He fired another, but Mercury had already recovered, aiming a vicious roundhouse kick at Sapphire's head.

Ducking, Sapphire fired two more arrows, both tearing off small pieces of fabric as they sped past Mercury's pant leg. Much to his surprise, Mercury leapt into the air and away from him after that failed attack instead of following up with a counter.

Much like the sneak attack at the warehouse, Sapphire's arrows this time had razor-sharp wires attached to them as well. He had not expected them to work as well this time, but Mercury was prepared after all.

Sapphire closed the distance, brandishing the bladed forms of his weapons. He knew that the location Mercury chose was meant to counter the wires he could not see; the spotlights illuminating the stage offered Mercury all the help he needed to see the metallic wires even in the midst of battle.

The location, however, was not without its disadvantages. On a stage like this, the space available was heavily limited. For Mercury, who relied on his legs in battle, there was hardly enough room to swing his legs properly. It was easier for Sapphire to close the distance, and when he did, he would have an advantage with his fists.

While it was true that the weakness of fighters who fought with fists was fighters who focused on using their legs, the opposite was true as well. Without enough space and when forced into extremely close range combat, fists were faster and were more flexible. While Sapphire could have opted for using his legs as well, he decided on using his blades to gain the upper hand.

However, Mercury had anticipated that. He stood where he was, waiting for Sapphire to get close. When he was close enough, he countered, landing a solid uppercut to Sapphire's chin.

With the glaring spotlights behind him, Mercury had managed to obscure Sapphire's vision by casting his own shadow over him. Unable to grasp the form of Mercury's counter, Sapphire fell for it hook, line and sinker.

Mercury leapt towards him, ready to deal another blow, but staggered backwards a moment later. Sapphire, having used that same trick against Blake, knew how to use the situation to his advantage from the other side: bringing up his blades, he reflected the light right back into Mercury's face, momentarily blinding him. Using that opening, he kicked Mercury off the stage and into the seats below.

Mercury jumped to his feet, but Sapphire had already made his next move. Pressing a button on the side of Lifesaver, he jumped back just before the wires lit up. From the glow, Mercury deduced that they were covered with Dust.

The arrows were supposed to miss, but it did not mean that the usages of the wires stopped as being cutting traps. Mercury dived to his side, only to realize one moment too late that the floor was sprinkled with Dust as well. Sapphire must have poured it there when he walked towards the stage-

The rest of his thoughts were erased by a deafening roar as an eruption of orange and red filled the auditorium.

-

"I have a request," she said. "You won't tell anyone about our meeting here, will you?"

Ruby shook her head silently, mesmerized by her words. She chuckled.

"Tell me," Cinder said softly, her hand still on Ruby's cheek. "I've been seeing this boy hanging out with your team lately. Is he a friend of yours?"

"Yes," Ruby replied.

"Well then," Cinder continued. "Won't you tell me his name?"

Ruby obliged. Even if she could not understand why, she was compelled to give this woman everything she wanted. Even if she had a bad feeling in her gut about that question, she could not refuse.

"Sap-" she began.

"Victory!"

Weiss froze in the middle of her bow and stared at the owner of that loud proclamation. Ruby, who had been startled and jumped, turned hastily at the source of that familiar voice as well.

"Uh-oh," Penny muttered to herself as everyone's eyes settled on her. "Gotta think fast, gotta think fast…"

From where she was, Cinder could not see the sniper, but given the circumstances he must have been taken out. She had no idea where this orange-haired girl came from, but if she had managed to discover him in the dark, she was clearly an adversary that needed to be removed.

"That's enough fun for tonight, little jewel," she declared, leaving a very confused Ruby at her seat. "We'll definitely meet again, so look forward to that."

But when she had reached the balcony where Team JNPR was supposed to be, dressed as security, the sniper was out cold and his weapon had been meticulously battered to bits. Furthermore, the girl who called herself Penny was somehow standing of the stage with a blade in hand.

"Aha! Weiss Schnee!" she said dramatically. "I have – hic – come to slay you – hic – on behalf of – hic – the White – hic – Fang! Prepare to die!"

"Penny, what is this about…" Weiss muttered. In the next instant, Penny had her gunblade at her throat, which Weiss was able to keep from going any further with a glyph. It was easy enough, considering how slow Penny was with her swing.

"Assassins," Penny whispered. "They're outside too. You need to cancel the concert now!"

"Assassins?" Weiss repeated. She considered this for a moment, but shook her head. "I can't just cancel it like this, so play along, Penny."

In response to Penny's confused look, Weiss jumped back and into the wings, emerging again with Myrtenaster by her side. She gave Penny a wink, just as the orange-haired girl began to catch on. This was a Schnee event, and there was no way she would let it end on a lackluster note.

The Schnee do not back down from anything, after all.

"Vile fiend!" Weiss said loudly, causing the unrest from the audience to calm down a little. "You dare to trespass on this event and make an attempt on my life? I shall show you the strength of a Schnee!"

To be honest, Weiss was enjoying the way this played out. It might look like a crappy performance to everyone else, but it did not matter right now. What matters was that she could, in her own way, save the concert in a way her sister could not.

What had made her different from the rest of the family had been her ability to fight, and to end a performance in which she was the star with a battle was oddly fitting. This was something that she could pull off, but her sister could not. From here on out, it was time for Weiss's own performance in its truest sense: uninfluenced by any planning or expectations, it was truly her time to shine.

Wearing a dazzling smile on her face, Weiss charged.

-

Sapphire took a few steps back, waiting for Mercury to emerge from the large cloud of debris. From what he heard in the middle of his fight, his whispered directions seemed to have paid off. Now he could focus on the situation in front of him.

The spotlights were not all destroyed, so fortunately there was still light, but smoke was a good cover in their line of work. Mercury could be planning anything from inside there while Sapphire was exposed in the light like the easy target he was.

That explosion should have reduced Mercury's Aura levels considerably. Even if it was him, some parts of the explosion had hit him straight in the face. Now that his Aura was drained, Mercury could not depend on it for the rest of the battle, which made him the same as Sapphire. At this point, any stab or cut would draw blood, and bullets turned far more fatal than before.

Sensing movement, Sapphire kicked at thin air, launching off a Dust Grenade. It burst violently inside the dust cloud, creating a strong gale of wind in its wake.

Mercury charged out the cloud, jumping over the seats to distance himself from the grenade. However, the gale that had been summoned managed to lift some chairs off the ground, throwing it haphazardly outwards. He dodged the first two with relative ease and, judging that he could not dodge the third effectively, destroyed it with a kick and a bullet fired from his boots, smashing it into countless unrecognizable pieces upon contact.

"What happened to the MACBs?" Sapphire asked, only to be forced to dodge the bullets that were fired at him.

Leaping onto the stage, Mercury unleashed a front snap kick aimed for Sapphire's head. Had Sapphire's eyes been blue, he might not have escaped unscathed, but as he was right now he managed to sidestep it in time. What caught his attention was the speed of that kick; it was pretty much a jab with a fist despite him using his legs.

Mercury did not pause to let Sapphire catch his breath. Even though Sapphire thrust Daybreak forward in a stabbing motion, he parried the blow with a powerful upwards kick. In one swift, fluid motion, he brought it back down, landing a powerful axe kick on Sapphire's left shoulder.

A very satisfying cracking sound was heard, and Sapphire was forced to back up a few steps. Mercury took advantage of that and advanced, stopping just outside of the blades' range and firing off a jump spin hook kick just as Sapphire attempted to trip him. Both sides missed, but Mercury fired a bullet from his boots while kicking, hitting something solid in the wings.

Sapphire rolled away, putting some distance between him and Mercury. He was considering changing to ranged combat, but a dull groaning sound to his left snapped him out of his thoughts. Dashing forward to avoid the metal fixture as it swung down from the ceiling, he found himself right in front of Mercury, and the latter was already in motion for a roundhouse kick.

Grabbing the tip of Mercury's boot, Sapphire quickly flung it away before the bullet was fired, even though it ended up grazing his hair. Mercury, using the momentum from Sapphire's fling, adjusted his attack and pulled off another roundhouse kick, this time coming from the other direction.

Sapphire attempted to stop this one the same way, but the burning pain in his left shoulder disagreed. With a rather clumsy backflip, he avoided the attack by a hair's breadth, dropping a grenade between them as he did so.

Following the eruption of light and sound between them, Sapphire got to his feet, panting as he felt his Semblance boil. Right now, he could crush an Ursa with brute strength alone, but his technique was fading bit by bit. Mercury could more than match him in strength; after all, legs possessed more power than arms, and Mercury was unmatched when it came to fighting with kicks. This was his limit, at least until he released more of it should he activate Combat Mode.

He was fighting with his life on the line, but he was still not out to kill. That said, he could not go easy either; defeating Mercury was a tougher challenge than he had anticipated.

Using it would probably be justified. Besides, it was a battle with his life on the line and his techniques were weaker than his opponent's. It was only natural to use it.

"Safety off," he declared, receiving an instantaneous reply from Lifesaver in the form of metallic clicks.

The sounds of gunfire reached him first, and two bullets tore through the air at his head. Taking a deep breath, Sapphire cut them in half in mid-flight with just Duskfall alone. He charged, easily dodging Mercury's snap kick and plunging Duskfall's blade into the side of Mercury's sleeves.

Tearing the entire sleeve off, Sapphire removed the metallic plates attached to Mercury's arm. Mercury countered with a step backwards and a side thrusting kick, but Lifesaver automatically fired the guns attached to its sides, forcing back the attack. Using that opening, Sapphire tore away the other sleeve while confirming that Mercury's legs had been protected by some sort of plate as well.

Mercury leapt forward, attempting to knee Sapphire in the gut before he could unleash his next attack. Sapphire was more than ready to dodge it, but at that moment his body refused to move.

Taking the blow, Sapphire was unable to dodge the attack that followed. Kicking off the ground with his other foot, Mercury kicked him violently in the chest and fired off a bullet upon contact.

Crashing into the wall, Sapphire coughed up some blood as he checked the damage. His suit was bulletproof, but after a hit like that a rib or two were definitely broken. But what worried him was the condition his body was in that did not even allow him to fight for long in Combat Mode.

"Neutral," he panted. The peculiar feeling that was his Semblance faded, leaving only a portion of it behind. It cleared his head, but it would not be of much help. He had to fight without relying on strength this time, which was a considerable handicap against someone like Mercury.

Standing up, Sapphire groaned as he forced his left hand to move. It was not able to move much, but enough for it to not be too much of a burden in battle.

"Why…?" he muttered. "Why leave… when you were so strong…?"

"What, and live in your shadow?" Mercury scoffed. "No thanks."

His killing intent was unlike anything Sapphire had ever seen before from the man that was his partner. It might even be enough to match Adam Taurus's. With his body in the state it was in, Sapphire had little doubt that he would lose this battle. Without Genocide Mode, he had little hopes of victory right now.

But he had made a promise. He had promised that he would come back alive, after all this was settled. He could not go off dying like this. Not killed by Mercury, and definitely not killed by his own incompetence.

With a pained war cry, Sapphire charged. Mercury readied himself to counter, only to be surprised by the form of attack that Sapphire chose.

A roundhouse kick. Even though he managed to stop it with his own, Mercury was still unable to comprehend the act. Sapphire did not have enough training to be able to match him in power or speed, so it was complete suicide to try and fight with kicks. Yet, he had decided on it anyway.

"Don't think too much," Sapphire advised, pulling off a front snap kick of his own. "That's always been your thing, right?"

Mercury smirked. Sapphire was not stupid, so he must have thought up a plan. Since it was Sapphire, it was likely a distraction. Much like how he liked to combine arrows with bullets, Sapphire was a firm believer of using visual deception by using something that would normally be deemed as weak as a decoy.

While countering his kicks by mirroring his actions, Mercury paid close attention to Daybreak and Duskfall. If there was something Sapphire could pull off right now to surprise him, it would be to suddenly change to those weapons. Once they changed to their bow or gun form, he would dodge and close the distance for a final blow. He had Sapphire read. With this, he could prove that he was-

A gunshot echoed, and a bullet grazed the side of Mercury's thigh. Looking up, he saw Sapphire holding a gun in his hand as the lower half of his pants fell away from being sliced, revealing Lifesaver.

Mercury had not been chosen as the test pilot for Lifesaver, and in his jealousy he had not paid attention to its abilities. Even so, he was not one to be caught off guard by the presence of a hidden weapon. He would just have to crush those boots as well.

Then he smelled it. It was a prickly sensation in his nose, and it was strangely familiar.

"I'm sorry," Sapphire said. "You hit Lifesaver pretty badly, and it was already damaged to boot, so I guess the containers holding Dust got a little loose."

Sapphire flung the gun in his hand at Mercury, who attempted to swat it aside. Before he could, however, Sapphire had already pulled out another gun, pressing a button on its side as he did so.

The gun exploding in Mercury's face would only paralyze him, but the explosion also affected the Dust in the air around them.

Mercury barely had the time to duck when his vision became flooded with a brilliant burst of light, sound and heat.

-

He leaned against the wall, his feet barely supporting his body. He had taken a large blow from the explosion, and his body was paralyzed. There was nothing he could do now.

In the distance, his opponent was pouring what appeared to be Dust back into the odd metallic boots he wore. When that was done, he walked slowly towards him, blade at the ready. As much as he hated to admit it, there was nothing he could do about it.

Sapphire lifted his right hand, paused, and thrust it forward. He shut his eyes. He heard that it would only hurt for a second-

A sharp sound assaulted his left ear, but no pain came. When he finally opened his eyes, he saw Sapphire before him, panting as his blade pierced the wall behind him, inches away from his head.

"I can't do it," Sapphire said, panting heavily. "I can't kill you."

"What're you talking about?" Mercury asked. "Look at what I've done. Look at what you've done to make it this far. There's nothing you can do besides kill me."

"I looked up to you," Sapphire said. "I admired how you could think fast on your feet, and how you could pull off any mission with minimal planning. That's why I learned tricks and fighting techniques that would help me do the same, so I could catch up to you."

"You? Learn?" Mercury laughed. "You were always the talented one. Everyone thought you were some genius and-"

"-and I was losing all the way throughout this fight," Sapphire finished. "I lost to a guy who didn't want to be in my shadow. Ironic, isn't it?"

"Why won't you kill me?" Mercury asked. Sapphire removed his blade from the wall and let his arm dangle lifelessly at his side. "I've betrayed all of you. I caused the deaths of our entire team. I was willing to let you die."

"I made a promise," Sapphire replied. "I promised my previous partner that I would never let another partner die. I'm just keeping that promise. Besides, I know what I want now.

"The commander told me I couldn't see myself," he went on, looking into the distance without wariness. "When I finally understood what that meant, I understood that it was my fault all my comrades died. I don't want anyone else around me to die, and that desire didn't go away even after I started looking at myself. I don't want to kill any more of my friends with my own hands."

He took a few steps back, his legs wobbling as he tried to steady himself.

"I don't want to go back," he confessed. "I don't want to dive back into the shadows and take lives over and over again. But I won't let myself die, either; I promised them that I'd live. The only way I can atone for all that I've done is to keep living while shouldering that fact. You're no different, Merc.

"I have people to protect now," he said, offering Mercury a small but genuine smile. His eyes were still red, but all the fight in them had been drained out. "I have people who care for me, so I can't go down that path anymore. Besides, I'm kinda notorious from going off the 'mission' and doing what I want instead. I'm sorry."

Mercury said nothing. In the end, he had lost to Sapphire. The one who was witty in the end had been him – the one everyone kept calling the 'coward' – and not the 'fighter'. He had tried so hard to beat him, to prove that he was better, but he only ended up losing. Was this all that he was?

"You're soft," he spat.

"So I've been told," Sapphire conceded.

"You're making a mistake, Saph," he said. "If you let me live, the day will come when I kill you with my own hands."

"I've made many mistakes in my life," Sapphire shrugged. "Not as much as a certain Headmaster somewhere, but I've made my fair share. One more won't kill me."

He was mediocre. He was common, and he was ordinary. The one who was supposedly the elite – the one whom everyone believed was one of the chosen few in life – had looked up to him, not for his mediocrity, but for his strength. Was he the only person who had viewed himself as commonplace? Was he the only person telling himself that he was weak?

"Mark my words," he muttered, letting his back slide down from the wall as he sat on the floor. "This isn't over."

He could give him this one victory. Even if he did not know why, his mind was clearer than before after losing. Maybe it was because he now had a goal to work towards, and a rival to beat. Maybe it was because he finally found someone who viewed him as special. Maybe Sapphire's words made him look at himself as well. Maybe he really was special after all.

"I'll win next time," he swore.

-

Sapphire watched as the White Fang goons were hauled off by the police. Mercury was the last to be led away in handcuffs, and he stopped just before boarding the transport vehicle.

"You can't put it off forever, Saph," he warned. " _He's_ nowhere as soft as I am."

Sapphire's gaze sharpened. They both knew very well who Mercury was talking about.

"The fight's going to come to you soon," Mercury said. "Don't think you can get away with this one without anyone dying."

"Understood," Sapphire replied, smiling. "Thanks."

"Maybe I've yet to point this out," Mercury said, boarding the vehicle. "But smiling suits your depressing face, Saph. It makes a nice picture."

-

Sapphire watched the vehicle drive off, letting the night breeze clear his head. It had been far too long a night-

"So there you are."

"Oh, f-" Sapphire caught himself mid-sentence. He recognized that voice all too well. "F-fish sure taste good when it's catered here. As expected of SDC, I suppose."

"Nice save," Weiss complimented. "Now let's see how you get out of explaining why you left the concert before it even began."

"Er…" Sapphire said intelligently. "That is… um… Wait; didn't you have something you wanted to say to me?"

"Yes, that's right," Weiss replied. "It's something important-"

"Could you remove this first please?" Sapphire asked, pointing at Myrtenaster and its tip which was at his throat.

"Fine," Weiss said reluctantly, withdrawing her weapon. "The concert was flawless; it's me after all. But I guess it's partially thanks to you and Team JNPR defending it, so I'll at least say thanks. However! I have something more important to say, so listen up and don't interrupt me."

Weiss took a deep breath and exhaled, and proceeded to repeat that process four more times before she finally looked at Sapphire in the eyes. The fact that they were still red unnerved her a little, but she let it go.

"You… and I… that is…" Weiss fumbled with her words a little. "I wanted to tell you that we can never be."

Sapphire kept silent, although his eyes were wide. He blinked once, twice, and then proceeded to tilt his head while keeping his blank expression.

"What?" he asked, honestly confused at where this was going.

"I-I know you're in love with me!" Weiss blurted out. "T-that's why you said all those things to comfort me, right? B-but I can't love you back; my heart already belongs to someone else! So there!"

It took Sapphire a full minute to process that sentence, and another five to just stand there in silence looking at Weiss's look of embarrassment. Then it took about two minutes for him to stop laughing.

"W-what?" Weiss asked, perplexed.

"That was never my… my intention," Sapphire forced out over his own laughter. "I don't… oh man, I don't have those kind of feelings at all, snowflake. Ah, my stomach hurts…"

"How rude!" Weiss said, blushing to a shade of red similar to Ruby's cloak. "I'll have you know there're tones of men lining up to date me!"

"Last I checked, there was just one," Sapphire replied, recovering from the excessive laughing. "And he's probably waiting for you inside the concert hall, so go to him."

"I will," Weiss said. "But I'm not letting you get away with this that easily! As punishment for missing out on my spectacular concert, you'll have to do something for me!"

"And what is that…?" Sapphire asked cautiously, although he was more surprised that Weiss could smile like that; it was graceful, but it was also mischievous and playful at the same time.

"Well…"

-

"I can't believe I'm doing this."

"Don't complain," Weiss said. "Team JNPR's dancing even though they're wounded."

"We're going to be in so much sh- trouble when the teachers find out," Sapphire pointed out.

"Oh, we can just deal with it then," Weiss replied loftily.

"Who would've thought the infamous Ice Princess would do something like this?" Sapphire wondered aloud.

"What can I say?" Weiss replied. "I'm a rebel."

Chuckling to himself, Sapphire put on the full costume and stepped onto the stage just as the lights came on.

It was the weirdest concert he had ever attended. Team JNPR was below the stage, leading the entire dance floor with their moves (and quite good moves at that, he had to admit), while Team RWBY stood on stage each armed with their own instruments, playing song after song that Sapphire was forced to sing along to in front of the entire student population of Beacon. While wearing a dinosaur outfit, no less.

Yang was really into it for some reason, but Sapphire assumed that it was just because she had an excuse to go wild with the drums. Truthfully, he was surprised that Ruby and Blake of all people agreed to it, not to mention that the person to suggest it had been _Weiss_. He would never agree to something like this, but then again, this was his punishment, so he had no choice.

Or so he told himself, but he had to admit that it was fun to go crazy like a kid once in a while.

"Eh… ahem," Ruby said nervously into the microphone after the last song, prompting everyone to listen to her. Which was odd, considering Ruby was shy. Then again, she did participate in this concert for reasons unknown. "Thanks for coming to this impromptu concert. T-there's actually someone we'd like to introduce right now, so um…"

At that cue, Yang yanked off the dinosaur head, exposing Sapphire's face as Blake pushed him to the front of the stage. Ruby dashed away immediately, seeing refuge where Weiss was. That left Sapphire alone in front of a humongous crowd of students, still wearing half of the dinosaur suit. An introduction, she had said. So that was what this was about. It would explain why Ruby and Blake would agree to go through with it.

Sapphire looked around awkwardly for a few seconds, unsure of what he was supposed to say. Ruby had said 'introduce', but was she really expecting him to introduce himself to the entire student population like this?

"Er… hi," he began at last, seeing Weiss nod out of the corner of his eyes. "Name's Sapphire Fall. And er… I'm a transfer student of sorts, so I'm still unfamiliar with this school. Er… hope we get along."

Silence followed his words, and he was wishing he had the dinosaur costume back when he heard someone clap. Jaune was the first to start, and his team followed his lead shortly after. It did not take long for the students around them to start clapping as well, filling the space with warm applause. It was not grand, but Sapphire was not some superstar.

He smiled. Maybe coming here did have its perks.

-

"So that's the guy who beat Mercury," Emerald muttered, her voice filled with hate and anger. She wanted to say something, probably to suggest killing them all now, but the look on Cinder's face stopped her from making another sound. It was able to replace that much raw fury with fear in an instant.

"Let's go, Emerald," she said, turning and walking away from the hall and towards the direction of Beacon's front gates. "It's time we returned the favor."

Her voice had been calm, but Cinder was by no means in a good mood. She did not know how, but that man had managed to dig that deeply into her past. Like the rumors said, Ozpin was most certainly a formidable foe to have, but this was truly impressive. How had he managed to find out about the existence of her brother, who had died all those years ago? How could he have possibly known that she – Cinder Fall – had infiltrated Beacon with hostile intentions, and recruited a soldier with that false name just to spite her?

However, he would be too naïve if he believed that this alone would be able to slow her down. Bringing in a soldier with that false name would not unnerve her in the least, or make her lose sight of her objectives. She would still have her way in the end.

She would, however, make him pay for using that name.

-

"I cannot believe this!"

Sapphire, who was on the verge of dozing off, caught himself and straightened his posture, while Goodwitch continued to scold them. He had already lost track of time, but he was pretty sure he was now five hundred years old, give or take a decade.

"To have your own concert on school grounds is downright outrageous!" Goodwitch went on, and Sapphire was very tempted to put a tranquilizer arrow into her, but he figured with Ozpin around that probably would not happen. Even if it did happen, she'd probably deal with him the same way she dealt with Yang – a method so horrifying it still scared the blonde even now, which was… fascinating.

The man in question merely watched from behind his desk, wearing a very amused look behind his glasses as Goodwitch continued to lecture. He did, however, turn away to consult his Scroll when a message came in, and his expression from then on stayed solemn throughout.

"Glynda," he said, halting her in the middle of her sentence. "I have something I need to say to them."

Goodwitch opened her mouth to protest, but the look on Ozpin's face made her agree begrudgingly. The children looked at their headmaster nervously, waiting for him to speak, probably expecting a lecture, but Sapphire seemed to have caught something in his tone. When he saw that he had everyone's attention, Ozpin dropped the bomb.

"The Schnee Dust Company has been attacked. Winter Schnee and several other executives have been sent to the hospital for emergency treatment. We believe it's the White Fang."


End file.
